Ezekiel 38:1-3

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

38 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of ^[a]Magog, the prince of Rosh, of Meshech, and of Tubal, and prophesy against him,

³And say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince (ruler) of Rosh, of Meshech, and of Tubal.

Ezekiel 38:2 Gog is a symbolic name, representing the leader of the world powers antagonistic to God (see also Rev. 20:8). Meshech and Tubal are understood to have been the same as the Moschi and Tibareni of the Greeks—tribes that inhabited regions in the Caucasus. Rosh, which some would identify with Russia, must have designated a land and people somewhere in the same area. And therefore the Gog of Ezekiel must be viewed as in some sense the head of the high regions in the northwest of Asia. (Patrick Fairbairn, The Imperial Bible-dictionary).