Rosh

The name Rosh is borne in two unrelated senses across the canon. The first is a son of Benjamin in the Genesis genealogies. The second is a northern people named in Ezekiel's Gog-Magog oracle alongside Meshech and Tubal, with Gog set as their prince.

A Son of Benjamin

In the migration roster of Jacob's house going down to Egypt, Rosh is named among Benjamin's grandsons through Bela: "And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel; and the sons of Bela were: Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, and Muppim; and Gera begot Ard" (Gen 46:21). The name appears nowhere else in this sense — it is a single-mention placement inside the Bela-line of Benjamin's house.

Prince of Rosh in the Gog Oracle

The other Rosh stands as a northern-people name in Ezekiel's commissioning of the prophet against Gog. The opening apposition exhibits Gog as "the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal" (Eze 38:2), with Rosh first in the triad of named northern peoples over which Gog of Magog is set as ruler. The same apposition is sealed in the oracle's first words against Gog: "Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Look, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal" (Eze 38:3).

The chapter-39 reprise reuses the title without alteration. After the renewed commission to prophesy against Gog, the verdict is restated: "Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Look, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal" (Eze 39:1). Rosh holds the same first-named slot through both deliveries of the oracle, paired across all three citations with Meshech and Tubal under Gog's princely rule.