1 Kings 22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they didn't go; for the ships were broken at Ezion Geber. Nevertheless, tin and amber do certainly come to us from the ends of the earth. This name is spelled (Tarshishah) in 1 Chronicles 1:7, but the -ah ending may in fact stem from a locative suffix that means toward or unto, so that it could refer to the range of the sons of Javan . 3. Among the Hebrews:(1) In Early Times.In the early books of the Old Testament there are references connecting certain of the tribes, and these northern tribes, with the activities of the sea. It was the birth pains of a nation being re-born that had not existed in over 2400 years. We understand that Tarshish was west of Israel leading some historians to believe it was located in what is today south-west Spain, especially as the Phoenicians had important colonies in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, rich in minerals with Cadiz as a vital trading port. [32], Bochart, apart from Spain (see there), also suggested eastern localities for the ports of Ophir and Tarshish during King Solomon's reign, specifically the Tamilakkam continent (present day South India and Northern Ceylon) where the Dravidians were well known for their gold, pearls, ivory and peacock trade. The land of Meshech is closely associated with that of Tubal, especially in a prophecy of Ezekiel. Isaiah 23:1 The burden of Tyre. (2) During the Monarchy.It is not till the time of the monarchy that the Hebrews begin to figure as a commercial people. They gave you silver, iron, and tin for your goods (Ezekiel 27:12). In the Gospels:It is the fishing-boats of the Sea of Galilee which exclusively occupy attention in the Gospels. Probably Tartessus, a city and emporium of the Phoenicians in the south of Spain, represented as one of the sons of Javan. Bible verses about Tarshish. Marayong NSW 2148 The masts and yards were made of fir, or of pine, and the sails of linen, but the fiber of papyrus was employed as well as flax in the manufacture of sail-cloth. On another occasion, when the crowds were still greater, He went into a boat and sat "in the sea" with the multitude on the sloping beach before Him (Mark 4:1 Luke 5:3). Gomer is the people who settled in Germany. When God commanded Jonah to go preach to Nineveh (500 miles NE of Israel), he headed to Tarshish, which was as far in the other direction as he could go (see Jonah 1:1-3). Herein, how far is Tarshish from Joppa? [3] The Jewish-Portuguese scholar, politician, statesman and financier Isaac Abarbanel (14371508AD) described Tarshish as "the city known in earlier times as Carthage and today called Tunis. The king of Greece being signified by a "shaggy" goat. Tarshish is mentioned in the prophecies of Scripture as having an important role in the last days. The reason for this was not simply the tempestuous character of the weather, but the obscuration of the heavens which prevented observations being taken for the steering of the ship (Acts 27:20).3. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? Elat, M. (1982). "Ships of Tarshish" is an expression sometimes denoting simply ships intended for a long voyage ( Isaiah 23:1 Isaiah 23:14 ), ships of a large size (sea-going ships), whatever might be the port to which they sailed. From this cooperation in the building of the Temple there grew up a larger connection in the pursuit of sea-borne commerce. Ezekiel regards them as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea (Ezekiel 27:25). 2). Thus, Jonah flees to Tarshish from the presence of Yhwh (Jonah i. Tarshish is a family name found among Jews of Ashkenazic descent. Thompson, C.M. It was in other directions that Israel made acquaintance with the activities of the sea. Jonah Lesson 2 - Part 2 Nineveh/Tarshish/Joppa Watch on Nineveh is located in the north of Iraq and is one of the country's 27 governorates. Solomon's ships were so styled ( 1Kings 10:22 ; 22:49 ). Within it, and specifically in the geographical region that was part of Phoenicia, is a concentration of hoards dated between 1200 and 800BC. Javan as one of the grandsons of Noah born after the flood. commentators have thought Tarshishwas Tartessus which appears inGreek mythical writings. Cush describes present-day Ethiopia and the black nations of Central Africa. The four sons of Javan, namely; Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim. Caesarea in New Testament times was a place of shipping and possessed a harbor which Josephus declared to be greater than the Piraeus, but it was Herodian and more Greek and Roman than Jewish. The cargo (phortion, Acts 27:10, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "lading") in this case was wheat (Acts 27:38), but another word is used, gomos, by Luke of a ship's load of varied wares (Acts 21:3; compare Revelation 18:11).Of those engaged in handling the ship we find (Acts 27:11) the master (kubernetes), the owner (naukleros, although this expression seems not quite consistent with the ownership of a grain ship of the imperial service, and Ramsay's distinction between the words, making the former "sailing-master" and the latter "captain," may be better), the sailors (Acts 27:30, who treacherously sought to lower the ship's boat on the pretense of laying out anchors from the "foreship" or prow, and to get away from the doomed vessel).Of operations belonging to the navigation of the vessel in the storm there were(1) the taking on board of the ship's boat and securing it with ropes (Acts 27:16, in which operation Luke seems to have taken part; compare Acts 27:32),(2) the undergirding of the ship (Acts 27:17, using helps, that is taking measures of relief and adopting the expedient, only resorted to in extremities, of passing cables under the keel of the ship to keep the hull together and to preserve the timbers from starting),(3) the lowering of the gear (Acts 27:17, reducing sail, taking down the mainsail and the main yard),(4) throwing freight overboard and later casting out the tackling of the ship (Acts 27:19),(5) taking soundings (Acts 27:28),(6) letting go four anchors from the stern (Acts 27:29, stern-anchoring being very unusual, but a necessity in the circumstances),(7) further lightening the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea (Acts 27:38),(8) cutting the anchor cables, unlashing the rudders, hoisting up the foresail to the wind, and holding straight for the beach (Acts 27:40).Of the parts of the ship's equipment there are mentioned "the sounding lead" (bolis, though it is the verb which is here used), "the anchors" (agkurai, of which every ship carried several, and which at successive periods have been made of stone, iron, lead and perhaps other metals, each having two flukes and being held by a cable or a chain), "the rudders" (pedalia, of which every ship had two for steering, which in this case had been lifted out of the water and secured by "bands" to the side of the ship and unlashed when the critical moment came), "the foresail" artemon, not the mainsail, but the small sail at the bow of the vessel which at the right moment was hoisted to the wind to run her ashore), and "the boat" (skaphe, which had been in tow in the wake of the vessel, according to custom still prevalent in those seas-coasting-vessels being sometimes becalmed, when the crew get into the small boat and take the ship in tow, using the oars to get her round a promontory or into a position more favorable for the wind). The Jews like the Egyptians and the Assyrians had a natural shrinking from the sea, and Ecclesiasticus interprets their feeling when he says: "They that sail on the sea tell of the danger thereof; and when we hear it with our ears, we marvel" (43:24).III. Sealed silver in Iron Age Cisjordan and the 'invention' of coinage. Gonzalez de Canales, F.; Serrano, L.; & Llompart, J. The end of the known world in his day was beyond the Pillars of Hercules which stand on either side of the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic which was described as the ocean. It is in ships of Tarshish that the prophet of the Return sees the exiles borne in crowds to Jerusalem as their natural home (Isaiah 60:9).From Solomon's time onward the kings of Judah retained their hold upon Eloth (1 Kings 22:48 2 Chronicles 20:35-37) till it was seized by the Syrians in the days of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:6). Again, cedar trees were brought from Lebanon by sea to Joppa, and thence conveyed to Jerusalem (Ezra 3:7).From Joppa Jonah fled to avoid compliance with God's command to go to Nineveh and preach repentance there (Jonah 1:1). "(b) As regards the crew, in the two-banked Phoenician ship the rowers of the first bank work their oars over the gunwale, and those of the second through portholes lower down, so that each may have free play for his oar. The same book notes it as a striking example of the case of a divine and beneficent Providence that "men entrust their lives to a little piece of wood, and passing through the surge on a raft are brought safe to land" (Wisd 14:1-5). PO Box 4216 Genesis 10:4 1 Chronicles 1:7. (Ezekiel 38:13). The second son of Javan, Genesis 10:4. Experts have positioned it as far away as India in the east and the far coast of Spain in the west. They were stored in Tyre and resold, probably to Mesopotamia. Javan listed as the fourth son of Japheth. On shipping and navigation in classical antiquity Smith of Jordanhill, Voyage and Shipwreck of Paul, is still the standard authority.T. Young Lions: Either the colonies that came from the UK, namely North America or the offshoots of Spain, mainly the Latin American countries. It prospered from trade with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians but was probably destroyed by the latter about 500 bc. The record states: Coincidentally, there is a town named Tharsis 50 kilometres north of Huelva; the th combination, however, is a linguistic curiosity and alien to the Spanish language. It was a Phoenician colony, and was the most celebrated emporium in the west to which the Hebrews and Phoenicians traded. The sail had also to serve "for an ensign" (lenes, Ezekiel 27:7). Jeremiah 10:9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men. It deals with the rivalry between the Tartessians and the evil Arkabala, the high priest of the Temple of Hercules in the Phoenician city of Gadir (Cdiz), for control of the tin route to las islas Casitrides (the British Isles.) His name is from the Hebrew word for desire. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the Targum of Jonathan render Tarshish as Carthage, but other biblical commentators as early as 1646 (Samuel Bochart) read it as Tartessos in ancient Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula), near Huelva and Sevilla today. As He was by the seashore a great concourse of people from all parts made it desirable that "a small boat" (ploiarion) should be in attendance off the shore to receive Him in case of need, though He does not seem to have required it (Mark 3:9). "Tarshish is ancient Tartessus in the present-day nation of Spain. (a) As regards rigging, the Phoenician ships of the time of Ezekiel, as seen in Assyrian representations, had one mast with one yard and carried a square sail. It was the farthest limit of the western world as known to the Hebrews. The metals were reportedly obtained in partnership with King Hiram of Phoenician Tyre (Isaiah23), and fleets of ships from Tarshish. He was going in the total opposite direction that God told him to go, on a boat travelling as far as they go. The builders of the second temple also got timber from Lebanon and conveyed it to Joppa. Luke has made no note of the name of this or of the previous vessels in which Paul had voyaged. Today each is just a shadow of their former selves. In Other BooksLITERATUREIn the Old Testament the following words are found:(1) The word most commonly used in Hebrew for "a ship" is 'oniyah (Proverbs 30:19 Jonah 1:3, 4), of which the plural 'oniyoth is found most frequently (Judges 5:17 1 Kings 22:48 f, and many other places).The collective term for "a navy of ships" is 'oni (1 Kings 9:26; 1 Kings 10:22, 'oni Tharshish, "a navy (of ships) of Tarshish"; but Isaiah 33:21, 'oni shayit, a "galley with oars"). In the olden days, it was one of the largest and most affluent cities. I suspect based on the Apostle Paul wanting to make it to the utter most part to spread the Gospel, it's Spain. It may be that the ships of Tarshish brought minerals from Spain but it is unlikely that they brought tin from Spain since its source wasCornwallon the south west of Britain. Thompson, C.M. This seemingly rules out Spain as Tarshish and the Latin American countries as the young lions. A further clue is given in Ezekiel 38:13where the merchants of Tarshish aresaid to have young lions. ), (1) A distant port from which silver, iron, tin, lead, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks were brought to Palestine (cf. In the 14th century, in the northern highlands of the Horn of Africapresent-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Djiboutithe story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba took on a new meaning. Tarshish may have settled nearby in today's Lebanon. It is associated with the south west of Spain, and is likely to have been a kingdom. Here, Tarshish is certainly a large island, and cannot be confused with Tarsus (Thompson and Skaggs 2013). At the height of its glory in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.E., the ancient city of Babylon was the largest and wealthiest in the world. The last mine closed in 2004. This chapter is an end time prophecy concerning the re-birth of Israel:Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; and the ships of Tarshish will come first, to bring your sons from afar, their gold and silver with them, to the name of the Lord your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you (Isaiah 60:9). The size of the vessel is indicated by the fact that there were 276 persons on board, crew and passengers all told (Acts 27:37). God told the prophet Jonah to go and preach to the people of Nineveh, But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD (Jonah 1:3). The first century A.D. Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, wrote that it was the same city as Tarsus, in modern day Turkey, which is the Apostle Paul's hometown. In Revelation there is a representation of the fall of Babylon in language reminiscent of the fall of Tyre (Ezekiel 27), in which lamentations arise from the merchants of the earth who can no more buy her varied merchandise (ton gomon, "cargo" the Revised Version margin), and shipmasters and passengers and seafaring people look in terror and grief upon the smoke of her burning (Revelation 18:12-18).LITERATURE.The usual books on Greek and Roman antiquities furnish descriptions and illustrations. The Greeks refer to the Cassiterides, or tin islands, and describe them as being situated somewhere near the west coast of Europe. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. In fact, in ancient times, the British Isles were known as the Cassiterides, which means Tin Islands.. September 22, 2018 by admin Filed under For Him. The Spanish Empire was a dominant world influence in between the late 15th century until the early 19th century. In Luke's writings there are many nautical terms, peculiar to him, used with great exactitude and precision.When Paul had appealed to Caesar and was proceeding to Rome in charge of Julius, the centurion, along with other prisoners, a ship of Adramyttium, a coasting vessel, carried the party from Caesarea along the Syrian coast, northward of Cyprus, past Cilicia and Pamphylia, to Myra of Lycia. Ezekiel, in 587BC described all of the commodities sold in the market place of Tyre and stated that. You were filled and very glorious in the midst of the seas. The biblical phrase "ships of Tarshish" refers not to ships from a particular location, but to a class of ships: large vessels for long-distance trade. [1], The existence of Tarshish in the western Mediterranean, along with any Phoenician presence in the western Mediterranean before c. 800BC, has been questioned by some scholars in modern times, because there is no direct evidence. Thompson and Skaggs[10] argue that the Akkadian inscriptions of Esarhaddon (AsBbE) indicate that Tarshish was an island (not a coastland) far to the west of the Levant. Attractive design ideal for your home, office, church . Tarshish must have been established prior to the 10th century BC. One view locates Tarshish to the East, accessible from Solomon's great seaport at Ezion Geber on the Red Sea. The first century A.D. Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, wrote that it was the same city as Tarsus, in modern day Turkey, which is the Apostle Pauls hometown. Tarshish also occurs 25times in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible with various meanings: This is repeated in 2Chronicles20:37 preceded by the information that the ships were actually built at Ezion-geber, and emphasizing the prophecy of the otherwise unknown Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah against Jehoshaphat that "Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made." My contention is that Tarshish could possibly be the modern day nation of Great Britain. Another clue comes from Ezekiel in the Lamentation for Tyre: Tarshish was your merchant because of your many luxury goods. It is also interesting to note that one of Javan's sons Tarshish has become what is today modern day Spain. (2) tsi (Numbers 24:24 Ezekiel 30:9 Isaiah 33:21), tsi 'addir, "gallant ship"; Daniel 11:30, tsiyim Kittim, "ships of Kittim. For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. Tartessus, an ancient city between two mouths of the Guadalquiver, in the south of Spain. It was Simon Maccabeus, however, who built its harbor, and the harbor at Joppa was "the first and only harbor of the Jews" (G. A. Smith, HGHL, 136). Experts have positioned it as far away as India in the east and the far coast of Spain in the west. 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