ماجوج
Attested forms : مَأْجُوجَ 1 · مَأْجُوجُ 1
Core meaning
A proper name, always joined to Yajuj: the second term of a pair the text never names separately.
Uses
مَأْجُوج → "Majuj" : the name is kept as it is, always after Yajuj; the text makes it known by what it does.
Evidence from the text
Both occurrences join the name to Yajuj, in the same order. In 18:94, a people complains of them to the Holder of the Two Acolytes: they sow corruption on the earth, and a tribute is offered in exchange for a barrier. In 21:96, they are "opened" and come swarming down from every height, as the true promise draws near.
The text says nothing of their origin; it describes them by their action. The translation keeps the name transliterated, without identifying it.
The name can be brought close to two roots of the text, a link the text does not draw itself: أجج, the "bitter", burning water that cannot be drunk (25:53, 35:12, 56:70), and موج, what "surges" like the swell: "We shall leave them, that Day, surging one against another" (18:99). The barrier that holds them back is made of blocks of iron brought to fire, over which naphtha is poured (18:96), between two sides; when it gives way, they come "down from every height" (21:96). Hence the image one can read in it: a source of lava, its flows and its acid rains, sealed by the Holder of the Two Acolytes, and which will open when the time comes: in 21:96, Yajuj and Majuj are "opened" as the true promise draws near, the scene of the volcanoes opening, on the Day.
See also
ياجوج (the first term of the pair) · سدد (the barrier asked for against them)