And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish. James, showing the power of little things, adduces the ships, large though they be, and driven by fierce winds, turned about by a very small "rudder" (pedalion), as "the impulse of the steersman willeth" (James 3:4). hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar. Ships of Tarshish made a deep impression upon the imagination of the Hebrew people. Isaiah 23:10 Pass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. 2 Chroniques 9Louis Segond. Isaiah speaks of "vessels of papyrus upon the waters" of the Upper Nile, on board of which are the messengers of Cush or Ethiopia returning to tell the tidings of the overthrow of Assyria to the inhabitants of those remote lands (18:2 the King James Version has "bulrushes" instead of "papyrus"). Other candidates for the name "Tarshish" in Biblical-Prophetic terms exist include America as discussed below. The Bible definitely gives the indication that Tarshish was far away from Israel. As a Persian name the word stands in relation with Teresh (2,221; 6:2), and with Tirshatha; all probably from the . In this feature, unless otherwise indicated, we use the term "Tarshish" as synonymous with Tartessos in Spain. With such uncertainty surroundingTartessus it would be dangerous toassert that Spain was the Tarshishof Scripture which was a maritimepower in the days of Solomon and which was the source of minerals for the great tradingcity of Tyre when Ezekielwrote in the 6th century BC. It is notknown whether Tartessus was a city,a river or a nation. Where is Tarshish today? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Tarshish must have been established prior to the 10th century BC. Spain colonized South America but Britain colonized the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many more places. When Antiochus IV Epiphanes planned his expedition against Egypt, he had with other armaments "a great navy," presumably ships of war (1 Maccabees 1:17); and at a later time Antiochus VII speaks expressly of "ships of war" (1 Maccabees 15:3).2. The Greeks refer to the Cassiterides, or tin islands, and describe them as being situated somewhere near the west coast of Europe. Bethsaida at the northern end of the Lake and Tarichea at the southern end were great centers of the trade. The fare (cakhar) paid by him as a passenger, the hold of the ship in which he stowed himself away (cephinah), the crew (mallachim) the captain or shipmaster (rabh ha-chobhel), the storm, the angry sea, the terrified mariners and their cry to their gods, and the casting of Jonah overboard to appease the raging waters-all make a lifelike picture.It was in the time of Simon, the last survivor of the Maccabean brothers, that Joppa became a seaport with a harbor for shipping-"Amid all his glory he took Joppa for a haven, and made it an entrance for the isles of the sea" (1 Maccabees 14:5). [4][10], The editors of the New Oxford Annotated Bible, first published in 1962, suggest that Tarshish is either Sardinia or Tartessos. It occurs 24 times, originally as a land of people descended from a man named Tarshish in Genesis 10:4 (also 1 Chronicles 1:7). (2) One of the "seven princes" at the court of Ahasuerus (Esther 1:14 Massoretic Text). General References:Of general references to shipping and seafaring life there are comparatively few in the Old Testament. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning, a Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning "the sea coast.". Sealed silver in Iron Age Cisjordan and the 'invention' of coinage. In addition, Tarshish and the young lions must be connected to Sheba and Dedan (Arabia) in the last days. Works on the monuments like Layard, Nineveh, II, 379;; Maspero, Ancient Egypt and Assyria; Ball, Light from the East, and Reissner, Cairo Museum Catalogue, "Models of Ships and Boats," 1913, contain descriptions and figured representations which are instructive. The Spanish Empire was a dominant world influence between the late 15th century and the early 19th century. ); and perhaps a nation founded by him ().It is thought that most of the names in the table of nations refer to groups as well as to individuals from whom they were descended; this person presumably is the progenitor of a Mediterranean people. Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm. " The largest hoard was found at Eshtemo'a, present-day as-Samu, and contained 26kg of silver. Hence we may infer that the word Tarshish was also used to signify any distant place, and in this case would be applied to one in the Indian Ocean. Ships of Tarshish were no doubt ships actually built for the Tarshish trade (2 Chronicles 20:36 Jonah 1:3), but the expression became a general designation for large sea-going vessels to any quarter. 27:12). (1) Eponym of a Benjamite family (1Chronicles 7:10); Rhamessai, A and Lucian, Tharseis. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. His name is from the Hebrew word for desire. In the late Bronze Age and into the early Iron Age, tin was a necessary ingredient for making bronze. More than once Jesus made special use of a boat. In Ezekiel 38:10-13 God is speaking through the Prophet Ezekiel to Gog of Magog, a confederacy of nations from the north, who would invade a land of "unwalled villages" (Israel). Lipiski, E. (2002). In the same book the drunkard, because of his unnatural insensibility to danger, is likened to a man "that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast" (23:34); and among the inscrutable things of the world the writer includes "the way of a ship in the midst of the sea" (30:19). display: none !important; Jonah 4:2 He prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Please, Yahweh, wasn't this what I said when I was still in my own country? I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" ( Jonah 4:2 ). Some think there was a Tarshish in the East, on the Indian coast, seeing that "ships of Tarshish" sailed from Eziongeber, on the Red Sea (, Probably Tartessus, a city and emporium of the Phoenicians in the south of Spain, represented as one of the sons of Javan. She is freighted with the most varied cargo, the produce of the lands around, her customers, or as they are called, her traffickers, being Tarshish in the far West, Sheba and Arabia in the South, Haran and Asshur in the East, Javan, which is Greece, and Togarmah, which is Armenia, in the North. As early as the 4th century BC, the Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin. This may be referenced in Psalm48:7 which records "By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish." It took three whole years to make the trip, and the merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys (2 Chronicles 9:21 NKJV). Silver and iron were minerals that could be found in many locations in the area of the Mediterranean Sea. TARSHISH (Heb. = The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wastreplenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas (Ezekiel 27:25). Fourth-named of the seven "princes" of Persia in the time of Artaxerxes ( Es 1:14 ). Already in the time of David commercial relations had been established between Israel and Tyre (2 Samuel 5:11 f). It was in other directions that Israel made acquaintance with the activities of the sea. 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 . Her builders have made her perfect in beauty with planks of fir or cypress, mast of cedar, oars of the oak of Bashan, benches or deck of ivory inlaid with boxwood, sail of fine linen with broidered work from Egypt, and an awning of blue and purple from the coastlands of Elisha (possibly Sicily). (2) ploiarion, "a little boat" (Mark 3:9 and two other places, John 6:22; 21:8). For Gog (the antichrist) to lead Magog, Meshech, Tubal, and a broader coalition of what are currently Arab-dominated nations and Persia, against Israel, Persia must submit to Gog. Hacksilber objects in these Phoenician hoards have lead isotope ratios that match ores in the silver-producing regions of Sardinia and Spain, only one of which is a large island rich in silver. Tarshish is mentioned in a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah 60:1-12. . (3) Phoenicia.It was from the Phoenicians that the Mediterranean peoples learned seamanship and skill in navigation. However, Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, making archaeological evidence difficult to uncover. 1 Although a number of locations have been proposed, for a long time the consensus has been that Tarshish was located at Tartessos at the mouth of the Gua- dalquivir in southern Spain,2 but in recent years a number of scholars, including Arie van der Kooij and Andr Lemaire, have reargued the older view (first attested. Tartessus, ancient region and town of the Guadalquivir River valley in southwestern Spain, probably identical with the Tarshish mentioned in the Bible. The Assyrian monuments contain representations of naval engagements and of operations on the seacoast. Is It Ok for Christians to Follow Zodiac Signs? In this version of the tale, the queen has a name: Makeda. I think this is an amazing Old Testament verse, in the fact that it mentions both God the father and Jesus the son, who is called the Holy One of Israel. It is also a prophecy that was literally fulfilled in the last years before 1948. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought lowAnd upon all the ships of Tarshish(Isaiah 2:12-16). Archealogical research in Cornwall recently identified ancient harbour facilities along with evidence of ancient structures. Unique Circular Format - see more in less space. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars (Ezekiel 27:4-6). Here, Tarshish is certainly a large island, and cannot be confused with Tarsus (Thompson and Skaggs 2013). 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? We should note that Cassiterite is tin dioxide from which tin is extracted. (Tin came primarily from Cornwall in the British Isles, and was brought back by the Phoenicians; it was combined with copper, abundant in south west Spain, to produce bronze. AUSTRALIA, There is no doubt Cornwall was the source of tin from the earliest times and that, It is possible that copper was mined in Spain but tin from Britain was mixed with it to make bronze. The merchants of Tarshish; the inhabitants of the sea-coast westward, and Magog north. '(3) cephinah, "innermost parts of the ship" the Revised Version (British and American), "sides of the ship" the King James Version (Jonah 1:5, the only place where the word is found).In Apocrypha ploion, is the usual word (The Wisdom of Solomon 14:1; Ecclesiasticus 33:2, etc. 5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every . This boat is said in Luke's narrative to have been Simon's, and it seems from references to it as "the boat" on other occasions to have been generally at the disposal of Jesus.2. The obvious answer is Saudi Arabia, ancient Sheba and Dedan! Some think there was a Tarshish in the East, on the Indian coast, seeing that " ships of Tarshish" sailed from Ezion-geber, on the Red Sea ( 1 . In the olden days, it was one of the largest and most affluent cities. : Southern Phoenician hacksilber hoards and the location of Tarshish. The Jewish-Portuguese scholar, politician, statesman and financier Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508 A.D.) described Tarshish as "the city known in earlier times as Carthage and today called Tunis." One possible identification for many centuries preceding the French scholar Bochart (d. Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon) is one of the oldest cities in the world, dating back over 4,000 years, during which it has been inhabited almost continuously. "Tarshish is ancient Tartessus in the present-day nation of Spain. There are more than twenty references in the Old Testament to Tarshish (pronounced as: Tar-ish), but where in the world was the land of Tarshish? One view locates Tarshish to the East, accessible from Solomon's great seaport at Ezion Geber on the Red Sea. The name Tartessus (sometimes Tartessos) has long been surrounded by myth. post 1875. Tarshish was a son of Javan, who settled the area of Southern Greece. 10:9; Ezek. The land of Kittim is Cyprus, and in the references in Isaiah it is associated with Tyre and the ships of Tarshish. [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. One of them is that the merchants (of Tarshish) are concerned about the motives of the invaders. Tiras. 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 Oracle of Balaam (Numbers 24:24) looks forward to a day when a fleet from Kittim should take the sea for the destruction of Assyria. Both Britain and Spain have had many colonies and have been great maritime powers but the British navy defeated the Spanish Armadas and Spain isno longer a great maritime powerwhereas the US began with British colonies and has seven navies that rule the worlds sea lanes. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs (Ezekiel 27:12). The Rio Tinto mine just north of Huelva was first worked by the Phoenicians and still produces copper. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. It is said to be buried under the Coto Doana (the combined marshlands and dunes at the mouth of the Guadalquivir that are now protected as a National Park), others claim it is under Seville or Huelva and so on. Tarshish was a son of Javan, who settled the area of Southern Greece. Solomon's ships were so styled ( 1Kings 10:22 ; 22:49 ). The Spanish Empire was a dominant world influence in between the late 15th century until the early 19th century. Ezekiel, in 587BC described all of the commodities sold in the market place of Tyre and stated that. 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