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Revelation 20 · a question people ask

"Gog and Magog" (20:8). Who are Gog and Magog?

In the text

Here is what the verse says. "and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea." (20:8). The verse sets the two names beside "the nations which are in the four corners of the earth" (20:8), and says their number is "as the sand of the sea" (20:8). It doesn't say who Gog and Magog are, and these notes don't either. They name no person, people, nation, land or ruler, then or now, and set no other passage beside the names.

The verses

“and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea.”
Revelation 20:8 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Revelation 20

Revelation 20: A great white throne

John says, "I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled away. There was found no place for them." (20:11), and "The sea gave up the dead who were in it." (20:13).

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Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions