Introduction: The Chapter of the War of Gog and Magog
Chapter 38 in Yechezkel is an extraordinarily important chapter: it is the chapter that deals with the War of Gog and Magog. This concept appears here in chapter 38, and portions of it are also found in chapter 32 of Yechezkel, as the Malbim explains. In addition, in Zechariah chapter 14, there is a prophecy more or less similar to what is said here, with certain variations. Specifically from these variations, when we examine them, we will arrive at a comprehensive picture of what is destined to occur in the War of Gog and Magog.
Gog and the Land of Magog: Two Heads, Two Fronts
וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהֹוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃ בֶּן־אָדָם שִׂים פָּנֶיךָ אֶל־גּוֹג אֶרֶץ הַמָּגוֹג נְשִׂיא רֹאשׁ מֶשֶׁךְ וְתֻבָל וְהִנָּבֵא עָלָיו׃ - And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, chief prince of Meshech and Tuval, and prophesy against him.
Rashi explains: Gog is the name of the king, and the land of Magog is the name of the nation. The nation is called Magog, and its king is called Gog. The Malbim notes that Yechezkel already prophesied about this matter in chapter 32: that in the End of Days, all the nations surrounding Jerusalem will come to wage war against it and its environs. And here it becomes clear that the war will be on two fronts: on one side, Egypt, Assyria, and Elam, who are the Ishmaelites; and on the other side, the "chief prince of Meshech and Tuval," who are the princes of Edom - meaning the Christian nations, and primarily the nations of Europe, the kings of the north. Anyone who speaks today about Egyptian rearmament knows what he is talking about: regarding Gog and Magog, it is taught that Egypt will be among the nations coming to wage war.
Both of these heads will come to Jerusalem, and a war will develop between them - between the Ishmaelites and the descendants of Edom - over Jerusalem. We will see this process unfold later. Our Sages say that Gog will come to Jerusalem three times: two times are mentioned here, in chapter 32 and in chapter 38 before us, and the third time is the one that appears in Sefer Zechariah.
We Are in the Midst of a Process
Had someone told us in the past that an all-out war would break out between the nations of Ishmael and the nations of Edom, such a reality seemed utterly inconceivable. But when we see America fighting the Arab nations and the "axis of evil," as they call it, the matter is no longer far-fetched. When we see the madman from Iran arming himself, this war appears close. And when we read later, "Persia, Cush, and Put with them" - Iran is right there in the picture; and as it prepares an atomic bomb for itself, and when we recall the words of the Vilna Gaon that the War of Gog and Magog will last two minutes ("he will not even have time to draw the bow before the war is already over") - what were two minutes in the concepts of those days? But today, when we are dealing with atomic bombs, and especially in light of the descriptions we will read later, which describe precisely what happens when an atomic bomb detonates, we understand that already then, the prophet spoke of a war whose concepts were completely unknown in his day, and are familiar to us only from today's reality.
From here it is also understood why Rav Elyashiv mentioned several times that we must be very concerned about what is happening in the world, and he spoke in this manner regarding Iranian rearmament. And who would have believed that there would ever arise a president of the United States named Hussein? It was related to me in the name of Rav Chaim Kanievsky that one should recall Herod: after all, the descendants of Cham are slaves, and suddenly one of the descendants of Cham rises to rule - something intellect cannot fathom. Herod too was a slave who came to rule over us, and he caused many troubles for the Jewish people, yet ultimately the matter turned around for the good, and he built the Beis HaMikdash. Therefore, one must not despair, nor determine in advance that only evil will come of this; one must pray to Hashem that everything turns out for the good and that no harm befalls us from it.
"We Do Not Know Now Who They Are" - Names That Represent Essences
The Malbim writes regarding Gog and the land of Magog: "We do not know now who they are." And one must realize: when a name is written, it does not mean that the person will literally be called by this name when he arrives, but rather that the name expresses his essence. In every single generation, had the Redemption been destined to come then, the figures active at that time would have taken on the character of Gog and the land of Magog and of all those coming to wage war; and in another generation, it would be different figures. So it is with Mashiach: in the generation of the Ari, he was Mashiach ben Yosef, but since we were not worthy, he was not revealed; in our generation too there is a Mashiach ben Yosef and a Mashiach ben David, and we do not know who they are - only when they are revealed will we know, and in the next generation they would be different individuals. Similarly, "Armilos the wicked will kill Mashiach ben Yosef" - will we look in the telephone directory for a family named Armilos? This is not the literal name of an individual, but rather the essence of that spiritual shell, that kelipah, that comes to fight against the Jewish people, and in every generation a different person can embody that aspect.
What is made clear in our text? That he will be the prince of Meshech and Tuval, and Meshech and Tuval are from the descendants of Yepheth and are uncircumcised; and they will awaken in the End of Days after the Jewish people dwell in peace, and all of this will happen because Hashem will arouse them. All of these things we will now see in the verses.
"Behold, I am against you, Gog" - The Place of Wickedness Is the Place of Judgment
וְאָמַרְתָּ כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה הִנְנִי אֵלֶיךָ גּוֹג נְשִׂיא רֹאשׁ מֶשֶׁךְ וְתֻבָל׃ - And you shall say: Thus said the Lord Hashem: Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
The descendants of Edom were the ones who destroyed the Second Temple, and Meshech and Tubal were with them. The Romans were the head of all those nations later included under the collective name "Edom." Hashem says to all these nations who came to battle over the Land of Israel and destroy the Beis HaMikdash: in the place of wickedness, there is judgment. Where was the place of wickedness? Jerusalem, where you destroyed the Temple; and there you will be brought, and there you will be judged, as it is stated, "And saviors shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau." It emerges that the entire purpose of bringing the nations here is to put them on trial and exact retribution from them. The very same principle applies to Arabia: the Ishmaelites who harassed the Jewish people here must come here to be judged. Where did they blow themselves up? Where did they carry out terror attacks? Where did they drive around on tractor rampages? In Jerusalem and in these places - and there they are destined to face judgment. Will harm be caused to Israel from this? We will see this further on.
"And I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws"
וְשׁוֹבַבְתִּיךָ וְנָתַתִּי חַחִים בִּלְחָיֶיךָ וְהוֹצֵאתִי אוֹתְךָ וְאֶת־כׇּל־חֵילֶךָ סוּסִים וּפָרָשִׁים לְבֻשֵׁי מִכְלוֹל כֻּלָּם קָהָל רָב צִנָּה וּמָגֵן תֹּפְשֵׂי חֲרָבוֹת כֻּלָּם׃ - And I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords.
Rashi explains veshovavticha ("and I will turn you around / make you wayward") - I will make you obstinate, for one who walks after the stubbornness of his heart is called shovav, as in "and he went waywardly (shovav) in the way of his heart." In other words: I will cause you to march with an obstinacy that has no logic behind it. And what truly stands behind it? The Creator of the world. You will be stiff-necked and decide to go without any rational explanation. And what is the real reason? "And I will put hooks into your jaws" - just as a fish is pulled by a hook, and just as an animal is steered by a bit in its mouth, so I will draw you to come to war against Jerusalem.
The Malbim notes with precision: an animal leaves its place in one of two ways - either through waywardness, thoughtlessly and foolishly, which is of its own volition; or it is dragged by force, against its will. On the surface, there seems to be a contradiction here: veshovavticha on the one hand, and "hooks into your jaws" on the other. Rather, the meaning is: you will come whether you want to or not - either by your own desire, or I will drag you against your will. Furthermore, it can be explained: you will march out seemingly of your own accord, but know that ultimately it is I who drew you. It seems to you that this is your own desire, but who induced that desire? It is I, who placed hooks in your jaws.
With him will also march many nations coming to his aid, "a great company" - for whenever war is waged against Israel, all kinds of helpers, confederates, and volunteers join in. They will bear buckler and shield, and all of them will be wielders of swords.
Partners in the Campaign
פָּרַס כּוּשׁ וּפוּט אִתָּם כֻּלָּם מָגֵן וְכוֹבָע׃ - Persia, Cush, and Put with them; all of them with shield and helmet.
Paras - that is Iran. Cush - Ethiopia, Africa. Put - Egypt. And these are the very nations mentioned earlier: Egypt, Assyria, and Elam.
גֹּמֶר וְכׇל־אֲגַפֶּיהָ בֵּית תּוֹגַרְמָה יַרְכְּתֵי צָפוֹן וְאֶת־כׇּל־אֲגַפָּיו עַמִּים רַבִּים אִתָּךְ׃ - Gomer and all its hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north and all its hordes - many peoples with you.
Gomer refers to those who are uncircumcised, and his sons are Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The Malbim distinguishes between two groups of "Togarmah": there is Togarmah dwelling in the land of Greece, who are aligned with Ishmael and will go with Egypt; and here it refers to those associated with Edom - "the house of Togarmah in the far north", Edom and all its princes and the princes of the north. Thus, there are two groups here: one affiliated with Ishmael, and one connected to Edom.
"And You Shall Be a Guard to Them"
הִכֹּן וְהָכֵן לְךָ אַתָּה וְכׇל־קְהָלֶךָ הַנִּקְהָלִים עָלֶיךָ וְהָיִיתָ לָהֶם לְמִשְׁמָר׃ - "Be prepared and prepare yourself, you and all your company that are gathered to you, and you shall be a guard to them."
As it were, he is told: prepare yourself, and all those gathered to you - who come to help you - you shall guard them so that they do no harm. And the deeper application: when Ishmael comes and begins to distress Israel here, the nations of Edom will come, and through their war they will ultimately neutralize the children of Ishmael. Will any harm come to us from this? We will see later. Is their goal in coming here to rescue us from them? It seems not, and we will soon see that he himself could not fully explain the purpose of his arrival here. Yet the outcome will be a war between the children of Edom and the children of Ishmael - and this is "and you shall be a guard to them."
"A Land Restored from the Sword, Gathered from Many Nations" - A Prophecy Already Fulfilled
מִיָּמִים רַבִּים תִּפָּקֵד בְּאַחֲרִית הַשָּׁנִים תָּבוֹא אֶל־אֶרֶץ מְשׁוֹבֶבֶת מֵחֶרֶב מְקֻבֶּצֶת מֵעַמִּים רַבִּים עַל הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר־הָיוּ לְחׇרְבָּה תָּמִיד וְהִיא מֵעַמִּים הוּצָאָה וְיָשְׁבוּ לָבֶטַח כֻּלָּם׃ - "After many days you will be called to account; in the end of years you will come into a land restored from the sword, gathered from many nations, onto the mountains of Israel that had continually been laid waste; and it was brought out from the nations, and all of them dwell securely."
This is an astounding verse, depicting a reality that did not exist in the time of Yechezkel, and we find ourselves already after its fulfillment. Rashi explains "after many days you will be called to account": you have sinned against Me for many days, and now I will reckon your iniquity upon you; the time has arrived to hold you accountable for an ancient sin that was long overdue for retribution, in the sense of "and on the day I visit, I will visit." And how? "In the end of years you will come into a land restored from the sword" - the Malbim explains: a land whose inhabitants were always slain by the sword, a land that has constantly suffered from the sword, with many coming to wage war in it.
"Gathered from many nations" - a land inhabited by a nation gathered from the many exiles in which it was scattered: one from Germany and one from Poland, one from Iraq and one from Yemen, one from Morocco and one from Cyprus, Estonia, and from all the lands. Both of these descriptions are already fulfilled in us: since the establishment of the State, we have not had a period that could be called quiet, and all of us are gathered from many nations.
"Onto the mountains of Israel that had continually been laid waste" - until recently, the mountains of Israel were in desolation. "And it was brought out from the nations" - the nation you are coming against is a people who were allowed to depart from those many nations, released, as it were, willingly and with consent to go and settle in the Land. And who granted this? The UN. And look, the Malbim wrote this long before the UN resolution, before the return to the Land, and before the World Wars. "And all of them dwell securely" - they have no war against you; they dwell securely and did not come to do you harm, yet you, seemingly without any prior reason, will come to wage war against them.
"You Shall Come Like a Storm, Like a Cloud to Cover the Land"
וְעָלִיתָ כַּשֹּׁאָה תָבוֹא כֶּעָנָן לְכַסּוֹת הָאָרֶץ תִּהְיֶה אַתָּה וְכׇל־אֲגַפֶּיךָ וְעַמִּים רַבִּים אוֹתָךְ׃ - "You will ascend; like a storm you will come, like a cloud to cover the land you will be, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you."
Here the prophet speaks to Gog and to all the nations that are with him. "Like a storm" - Rashi explains this as darkness covering the land; the Radak explains it as a rush of mighty waters coming suddenly, like a tsunami. The meaning is that from the abundance of horses, troops, and the vast army that will come with him, it will appear like a devastating storm, just as people speak hyperbolically of an immense crowd by saying it became dark from all those arriving. Similarly, "like a cloud to cover the land" - due to the vast multitude. Today this can be understood even better: if this refers to aerial warfare, a multitude of aircraft casts a vast shadow, truly like a cloud covering the land.
Yet the Malbim offers a deeper explanation: after all, a cloud comes for benefit, not for harm - it shields from the sun and brings down rain; how then can Gog be compared to a cloud? Rather, he will mask his arrival and present it as something positive: as if to say, "I have come to help, I have come to settle the land with inhabitants; I have not come to do evil, but only to bring benefit to this place," or through any other such claim.
"And You Will Devise an Evil Scheme"
כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יַעֲלוּ דְבָרִים עַל־לְבָבֶךָ וְחָשַׁבְתָּ מַחֲשֶׁבֶת רָעָה׃ - Thus said the Lord God: It shall come to pass on that day that things will enter your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme.
Specifically "on that day," the day of his ascent - meaning that beforehand he had no evil intention. It turns out that initially he truly did not come to conquer or to do harm. It may be that part of the matter is designed from Heaven to put us to sleep, disguising his arrival as though he came for the good - "I came to settle this place," or some other pretext. And then, suddenly, an evil thought will enter his mind.
"A Land of Unwalled Villages" - A War Without Glory
וְאָמַרְתָּ אֶעֱלֶה עַל־אֶרֶץ פְּרָזוֹת אָבוֹא הַשֹּׁקְטִים יֹשְׁבֵי לָבֶטַח כֻּלָּם יֹשְׁבִים בְּאֵין חוֹמָה וּבְרִיחַ וּדְלָתַיִם אֵין לָהֶם׃ - And you will say, "I will go up against a land of unwalled settlements; I will come upon those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, having neither bars nor gates."
A land can be difficult to conquer for three reasons, and conquering such a land earns one medals and honor. But when a country is easy to conquer - no one applauded Saddam Hussein for conquering Kuwait. What was Kuwait? His backyard, without an army and without anything. There is no heroism in that. One who fights against a fortified nation, against a superpower, and prevails - that is who earns a name and honor.
The first reason is fortifications. Here, "I will go up against a land of unwalled settlements" - perazot comes from the root of open and breached, without a wall. The second reason is warriors. If they were seasoned combatants, you could claim, "I fought warriors and triumphed"; but instead, "I will come upon those who are at rest, who dwell securely." This is an army that faltered even in a fight against a handful of Hezbollah operatives. Once it was an acclaimed military, but today it is an army of commissions of inquiry and High Court petitions. "Dwelling securely" - they do not equip themselves with weapons against the oppressor threatening them, because everyone is confident there will be no war and that everything will be fine. There are no vests, logistics could not find protective vests, and in the last Lebanon war soldiers had to take food from civilian homes. Anyone who relies on the army ought to be anxious; we remain calm because we trust in the Creator of the world.
The third reason: "All of them dwelling without walls, having neither bars nor gates." The Supreme Court piles on obstacles against constructing the security barrier: here is a Palestinian field, and here people are dying - let them die, as long as the Palestinian does not have to make a detour that inconveniences him during his annual olive harvest. For years they have debated the barrier, with the security establishment testifying how essential it is, and physically one must make an effort (hishtadlut) - yet the Supreme Court ruled otherwise, deciding that the Palestinian's right to harvest his olives cannot be infringed upon. Consequently, no great glory and no great honor will come to you from this war.
"To Take Spoil and to Seize Booty" - Three Objectives
לִשְׁלֹל שָׁלָל וְלָבֹז בַּז לְהָשִׁיב יָדְךָ עַל־חֳרָבוֹת נוֹשָׁבוֹת וְאֶל־עַם מְאֻסָּף מִגּוֹיִם עֹשֶׂה מִקְנֶה וְקִנְיָן יֹשְׁבֵי עַל־טַבּוּר הָאָרֶץ׃ - To take spoil and to seize booty, to turn your hand against the repopulated waste places, and against a people gathered from the nations, acquiring livestock and property, who dwell at the center of the earth.
Your entire goal consists of nothing more than three things. The first: "To take spoil and to seize booty" - profit, loot, plunder, and acquisitions. The second: "To turn your hand against the repopulated ruins" - to lay waste to the land and restore it to its former state; ruins that had been resettled, which you now seek to turn back into desolation. The third: because this people is "gathered from the nations" - they arrived from all different countries, and since one came from here and another from there, they maintain commercial ties with all the nations from which they came.
As is well known, the Jewish people have always been a nation of merchants. Antisemitism flared up in America after the great banking collapse - look at the names of the banks, Lehman and others: Jewish names. Thirty percent of the world's banking executives are Jewish, while the Jewish people constitute only two-tenths of a percent of the world, that is, 0.2%. Therefore, it is specifically here that you will want to come, because the commerce of all nations arrives here, and the Land of Israel will be a commercial and economic powerhouse, "those who dwell upon the center of the earth." Your claim will be that the trade here ruins, corrupts, and harms the entire world, just as commerce in China is said to harm the entire world today. From what is written here, it seems that the world's commercial center will apparently move here.
The Nations' Question: Merchant or Robber?
שְׁבָא וּדְדָן וְסֹחֲרֵי תַרְשִׁישׁ וְכׇל־כְּפִירֶיהָ יֹאמְרוּ לְךָ הֲלִשְׁלֹל שָׁלָל אַתָּה בָא הֲלָבֹז בַּז הִקְהַלְתָּ קְהָלֶךָ לָשֵׂאת כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב לָקַחַת מִקְנֶה וְקִנְיָן לִשְׁלֹל שָׁלָל גָּדוֹל׃ - Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, and all its young lions, shall say to you: Is it to seize spoil that you have come? Have you gathered your assembly to plunder booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?
"Its young lions" (kefireha), according to Rashi, refers to its sharpest merchants, shrewd and astute; while according to Radak, it refers to its kings and ministers, just as the young lion is king over the other beasts. They will come and say to him: Is your entire purpose in coming here merely to amass money? Surely it is a disgrace for a nation to go to war against another nation for a few oil reserves, a few gold mines, or diamond mines. Did you go to war for money?
The Malbim notes the precision in the double expression: "to seize spoil" (lishlol shalal) and "to plunder booty" (lavoz baz). Spoil (shalal) is what is abandoned on the battlefield during wartime, and that belongs to the king - as stated in I Samuel 30, "This is David's spoil," meaning it belongs to David. Plunder (bizah), on the other hand, is what individual soldiers loot for themselves, entering homes and taking whatever they find. Therefore, the wording is precise: "Is it to seize spoil that you have come" - you, the king, to whom the spoil belongs; "have you gathered your assembly to plunder booty" - plunder belongs to the soldiers, and therefore it says of it, "have you gathered your assembly," asking whether you promised them vast plunder and assembled your army for that purpose.
And they continue: "To carry away silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize great spoil" - did you come as a merchant, to carry away silver and gold and conduct great commerce here? The Malbim explains that these words are spoken with cynical irony: Is this truly your entire objective? Did you come as a merchant or as a robber? If as a robber, it is a disgrace for a nation to go to war for mere business, and for such an end to assemble your multitude and mobilize the entire army! This is what the surrounding nations will ask him.
Two Prophecies: The Evil You Will Commit, and the Decreed Punishment
לָכֵן הִנָּבֵא בֶן־אָדָם וְאָמַרְתָּ לְגוֹג כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה הֲלוֹא בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא בְּשֶׁבֶת עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל לָבֶטַח תֵּדָע׃ - Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: Surely on that day, when My people Israel dwell securely, you shall know.
There are two prophecies here. Why does it say, "Prophesy, son of man," and not simply "Therefore say to Gog" - had he not been prophesying until now? The Malbim explains: "Prophesy" refers to the harm they will inflict upon the Jewish people in the future, which is a prophecy of things to come; whereas "and say to Gog" refers to the punishment you will receive, which is not merely a future prophecy but something already decreed against you, a sealed and settled matter. The harm spoken of encompasses all the exiles, the Holocaust of European Jewry, the massacres of Chmielnicki and his cohorts, and all the afflictions you will cause. There is an accounting for everything, and therefore "and say to Gog" refers to the punishment that will come in the end: "Surely on that day, when My people Israel dwell securely, you shall know" - then you will know what will be done to them.
וּבָאתָ מִמְּקוֹמְךָ מִיַּרְכְּתֵי צָפוֹן אַתָּה וְעַמִּים רַבִּים אִתָּךְ רֹכְבֵי סוּסִים כֻּלָּם קָהָל גָּדוֹל וְחַיִל רָב׃ - And you will come from your place, out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding horses, a great assembly and a mighty army.
You will come from the far north; and just as back then, during the Roman exile, you swept in like a cloud to conquer their land in order to reign over them and destroy the Beit HaMikdash, so will it be in the End of Days. Yet this time, your true purpose in coming to the Land is not to destroy it, but rather that His Name, blessed be He, be sanctified in the world: that everyone will see what is done to you, and that you are paying the price for all the suffering you inflicted upon us throughout all the generations. Then you will know that Hashem is God, and that He exacts retribution from whoever transgresses His will.
"When I Am Sanctified Through You Before Their Eyes, O Gog"
וְעָלִיתָ עַל־עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל כֶּעָנָן לְכַסּוֹת הָאָרֶץ בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים תִּהְיֶה וַהֲבִאוֹתִיךָ עַל־אַרְצִי לְמַעַן דַּעַת הַגּוֹיִם אֹתִי בְּהִקָּדְשִׁי בְךָ לְעֵינֵיהֶם גּוֹג׃ - "And you will ascend against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land; it shall be in the end of days, and I will bring you upon My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog."
Here the true reason is stated: so that the nations will know Me, so that My Name will become renowned throughout the world and His Name, blessed be He, will be sanctified. And when is Hashem's Name magnified and sanctified in the world? When He exacts retribution from those who transgress His will; when people see the wicked paying the price, there His Name is magnified and sanctified, for all see that Hashem executes judgment upon the wicked. And why is "Gog" mentioned once again at the end of the verse? Because when My Name is sanctified through the retribution I exact from you, everyone will say: "Here is Gog, this is the nation about whom the prophecy was written, and behold, Hashem is exacting retribution from it just as was foretold from the beginning."
"Are You the One of Whom I Spoke in Days of Old?"
כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה הַאַתָּה־הוּא אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּרְתִּי בְּיָמִים קַדְמוֹנִים בְּיַד עֲבָדַי נְבִיאֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַנִּבְּאִים בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם שָׁנִים לְהָבִיא אֹתְךָ עֲלֵיהֶם׃ - "Thus says the Lord Hashem: Are you the one of whom I spoke in ancient days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years, to bring you against them?"
The Malbim explains: The name Gog and the nation of Magog were known in Yechezkel's time, for he speaks of a specific nation, but over the course of time their identity was forgotten. Sancheiriv came and scrambled the nations, and the nations continued to intermingle with one another, to the point that today we do not know who is Egypt, who is Put, or who is Canaan. Even regarding Amalek, we do not know precisely who an Amalekite is; we know that the root of Amalek lies in Germany, but we have no exact details. Therefore it says, "Are you the one" - a situation will arise where people will not remember who he is, and will not know who this Gog is about whom the prophecy was spoken. Only when you come upon the land to conquer it and people see the prophet's words being fulfilled, will everyone exclaim: "Are you Gog? This is the Gog about whom the prophecy was spoken so many years ago!"
"In those days, years" - in those days they prophesied that you would arrive after many years; for since the time of Yechezkel several thousand years have passed, at least two thousand years. There is also an additional explanation: "shanim" is from the root meaning "repetition," meaning they repeated this prophecy multiple times.
"My Fury Will Rise in My Nostrils"
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא בְּיוֹם בּוֹא גוֹג עַל־אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה תַּעֲלֶה חֲמָתִי בְּאַפִּי׃ - "And it shall come to pass on that day, on the day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord Hashem, My fury shall rise up in My nostrils."
Fury (cheimah) is something kept inside the heart, while af (anger) refers to wrath when it bursts outward. Hashem says: For long years and many generations I have harbored fury, but it was an inward fury; yet on the day Gog arrives, My fury will rise in My nostrils - the inward fury will rise and burst forth outward. This is why it is said of an enraged person that "smoke rose in his nostrils," for an angry person's nose flares and becomes hot, as if smoke were rising from it. The inner anger that was held back until now against all that the nations did to us will now erupt outward and find full expression.
וּבְקִנְאָתִי בְאֵשׁ־עֶבְרָתִי דִּבַּרְתִּי אִם־לֹא בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה רַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל עַל אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - "And in My jealousy, in the fire of My wrath, I have spoken: Surely on that day there shall be a great shaking upon the land of Israel."
"In My jealousy" - one who is jealous seeks to avenge a wrong committed, and I will be zealous for the honor of Israel. "In the fire of My wrath" - evrah is an expression of rage. "Surely on that day there shall be a great shaking" - meaning, you will see that on that day there will be a tremendous convulsion. And what is that shaking? That we will see in the next verse.
The Great Shaking: An Earthquake or Nuclear Warfare?
וְרָעֲשׁוּ מִפָּנַי דְּגֵי הַיָּם וְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וְחַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְכׇל־הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאֲדָמָה וְכֹל הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה וְנֶהֶרְסוּ הֶהָרִים וְנָפְלוּ הַמַּדְרֵגוֹת וְכׇל־חוֹמָה לָאָרֶץ תִּפּוֹל׃ - And the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all mankind upon the face of the earth shall quake before Me; the mountains shall be torn down, the cliffs shall topple, and every wall shall fall to the earth.
According to the plain meaning of Scripture, wherever ra'ash ("quake" or "noise") is mentioned, it refers to an earthquake. So too in Zechariah, "And you shall flee as you fled before the earthquake" - they had already experienced an earthquake, and the prophet says this commotion will be just as terrifying and alarming. Yet the Malbim offers an additional interpretation: it is very possible that ra'ash here is a figure of speech, not a literal earthquake, but something that will shake the earth - from all the artillery and weaponry of the End of Days, there will be a tremendous commotion equivalent to an earthquake.
As recalled, the Vilna Gaon stated some two hundred and fifty years ago that the war of Gog and Magog will last two minutes (and some say twelve minutes, as cited by Rav Zilberstein in Tuvcha Yabiu) - and this was long before anyone had even conceived of bombs, before "Mr. Nobel" invented dynamite. It turns out that the only thing this could possibly describe is nuclear warfare.
Anyone who contemplates verse 20 cannot possibly understand it as referring to a simple earthquake. After all, "the birds of the heavens" - are birds of the sky affected by an earthquake? No. And when would they be affected? In a nuclear event - for the radiation is such that even the birds of the sky will tremble, as will the beasts of the field and the fish of the sea. Radioactive fallout settling into the sea destroys everything, and even the fish cannot survive. By contrast, fish are not naturally harmed by an earthquake (though from an explosion in the water, fish die from the shockwave). Thus, from the wording of the verse, we see that all will be stricken, even the birds of the sky, and there is no explanation for this unless we speak of nuclear weapons. Later, in the descriptions in Sefer Zechariah, we will see this even more explicitly: descriptions of people afflicted in that war that precisely match someone who experiences, Heaven forbid, an atomic blast.
"Every man's sword shall be against his brother"
וְקָרָאתִי עָלָיו לְכׇל־הָרַי חֶרֶב נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה חֶרֶב אִישׁ בְּאָחִיו תִּהְיֶה׃ - And I will summon a sword against him throughout all My mountains, says the Lord God; every man's sword shall be against his brother.
"And I will summon a sword against him throughout all My mountains" - the Malbim explains that this is metaphorical: the mountains themselves will, as it were, slay them, and I will summon them to act like a sword to strike the enemies who come against the people of Israel. Furthermore, "every man's sword shall be against his brother": as we explained, nations from Edom and nations from Arabia will both arrive here and turn on one another. The primary battle on the soil of Israel will be Edom fighting the Arab nations, Ishmael - and that is the meaning of "every man's sword shall be against his brother," Edom and Ishmael warring with one another.
As for us, if we have merit, we will merely observe from the sidelines; if we lack merit, a portion of the Jewish people could, Heaven forbid, be harmed, as we will see later in Sefer Zechariah. However, according to what is presented here, this prophecy mentions no harm or damage whatsoever coming to the people of Israel, God forbid. The prophecy in Zechariah is more severe regarding Israel; these represent two different levels and two possible paths, depending on the spiritual state of the Jewish people. It cannot be that nothing happens at all - after all, it is a prophecy - but this prophecy bodes no ill for us; its brunt is directed against the nations: "And I will execute judgment against him" - exacting retribution from those nations that distressed the people of Israel.
From Nature to the Miraculous: "And I Will Execute Judgment Against Him"
וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּי אִתּוֹ בְּדֶבֶר וּבְדָם וְגֶשֶׁם שׁוֹטֵף וְאַבְנֵי אֶלְגָּבִישׁ אֵשׁ וְגׇפְרִית אַמְטִיר עָלָיו וְעַל־אֲגַפָּיו וְעַל־עַמִּים רַבִּים אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ׃ - And I will contend with him through pestilence and blood; and torrential rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone will I rain down upon him, upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him.
The Malbim makes a precise observation: pestilence and blood are natural afflictions - pestilence is an epidemic, and blood is the sword - and people might attribute these to nature, still failing to recognize Hashem, Blessed is He. Therefore it says, "And I will contend with him" (venishpatti ito) - as if I am entering into litigation with him, like one arguing a case with his fellow when the other party does not yet acknowledge Him. Thus Hashem declares that afterwards He will bring torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone - these are heavenly punishments of a miraculous order, leaving no room to deny them or dismiss them as natural occurrences or coincidence. When everyone sees torrential rain casting down hailstones, fire, and brimstone, all will recognize that this is from Hashem and that it is the finger of God. And all of this falls "upon him, upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him" - upon all who marched alongside him.
What are avnei elgavish (hailstones)? In the plain sense, they are large stones of ice. Our Sages expound: do not read elgavish, but rather al gav ish ("upon the back of a man"). For when Hashem brought the hail upon Egypt, Moshe pleaded in prayer that the hail cease - and what happened to the hail that was suspended in the sky? It halted and remained there. When will it fall? Our Sages say: when the time of Gog and Magog arrives, Hashem will release that very hail that was suspended above. This is the meaning of elgavish - al gav ish, as it were, "on the back of the man" Moshe, who prayed that it not fall, and in whose merit the hail still remains poised there; when Gog comes, that hail will rain down upon their heads.
"And I will manifest My greatness and My holiness" - The Source of the Kaddish
וְהִתְגַּדִּלְתִּי וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתִּי וְנוֹדַעְתִּי לְעֵינֵי גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהֹוָה׃ - Thus I will manifest My greatness and My holiness, and make Myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Hashem.
Through this, I will be magnified and sanctified, and made renowned in the eyes of many nations, and then all will recognize that I am Hashem. For previously, when there was only pestilence and blood, it was not yet conclusively evident that the matter came from Hashem; but when there will be a torrential downpour of hailstones, fire, and sulfur, here the Creator's Name will be magnified and sanctified in the world, and they will know that Hashem is God. Incidentally, this is the source of the concept of the Kaddish: the Kaddish is based on this verse - "And I will manifest My greatness and My holiness" - which is what will unfold in the End of Days. This is what we plead for: "Yitgadal v'yitkadash shmei raba" - that His great Name be magnified and sanctified, just as it will be after the War of Gog and Magog.
In summary:
The chapter describes the War of Gog and Magog in the End of Days: two factions, Yishmael on one side and Edom on the other, drawn with hooks toward Eretz Yisrael - a land that continually suffered the sword, to which exiles were gathered from many nations, which was brought out from among the nations with their consent, and which dwells securely, without walls and without bars. Gog will disguise his coming like a cloud that brings benefit, but on that day an evil scheme will enter his heart to take spoil and seize plunder, until the nations themselves mock him: Have you come as a merchant or as a robber? And then "My fury will flare up": a great shaking that is no ordinary earthquake, every man's sword against his brother between Edom and Yishmael, and finally heavenly punishments that have no natural explanation - torrential rain, hailstones that were held back since the days of Moshe, fire, and sulfur. And the entire purpose is singular: "Thus I will manifest My greatness and My holiness, and make Myself known in the eyes of many nations" - in the place of wickedness, there the judgment will be, and His Name, blessed be He, will be magnified and sanctified throughout the world, just as we ask in each and every Kaddish.