They gave it an English name! 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? Tarshish. Probably Tartessus, a city and emporium of the Phoenicians in the south of Spain, represented as one of the sons of Javan. The Spanish Empire was a dominant world influence between the late 15th century and the early 19th century. 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. Wail, you inhabitants of the coast! It was in other directions that Israel made acquaintance with the activities of the sea. Other candidates for the name "Tarshish" in Biblical-Prophetic terms exist include America as discussed below. It was the farthest limit of the western world as known to the Hebrews. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. There is consensus that it existed somewhere in the area between Huelva, Cdiz and Seville, but who the inhabitants were we do not know. Tarshish was located on the Mediterranean Sea and was usually identified with the powerful Phoenician trading colony in southwest Spain near modern Cadiz. Robbers by land on three sides, pirates by sea on the fourth, in a confederacy . ( Genesis 10:4 ; 1Kings 10:22 ; 1Chronicles 1:7 ; Psalms 48:7 ; Isaiah 2:16 ; Jeremiah 10:9 ; Ezekiel 27:12 Ezekiel 27:25 ; Jonah 1:3 ; 4:2 ) The identity of the two places is rendered highly probable by the following circumstances: 1st. Tin was a very important and valuable raw material for the ancient world. Archeologists have determined that mining began in Cornwall back in the stone agemaybe as long ago as 2000 B.C. Beth-Togarmah is Turkey. Put and Libya are located in northern Africa. Augustus Henry Keane (18331912) believed that Tarshish was Sofala, and that the Biblical land of Havilah was centered on the nearby Great Zimbabwe. Ezekiel 27:12. One view locates Tarshish to the East, accessible from Solomon's great seaport at Ezion Geber on the Red Sea. Others say Tarshish was on the Iberian Peninsula, like the Southern Coast of Spain. [20] However, a clear identification of Tarshish is not possible, since a whole array of Mediterranean sites with similar names are connected to the mining of various metals. Genesis 10:4 1 Chronicles 1:7. The USA and NATO use bases in Saudi Arabia to monitor the entire Persian Gulf area. They themselves quitted the island; and, anxious to reach Egypt, made sail in that direction, but were carried out of their course by a gale of wind from the east. 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). Tarsus, city, south-central Turkey. Tarshish is currently the name of a village in the Mount Lebanon District of Lebanon. Nicol. 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. 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. However, seemingly insignificant things in the Bible are sometimes the key to unlocking its greatest treasures. The last mine closed in 2004. commentators have thought Tarshishwas Tartessus which appears inGreek mythical writings. Spain colonized South America but Britain colonized the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many more places. Tarsus is an ancient city on the alluvial plain of ancient Cilicia, the birthplace of St. Paul (Acts of the Apostles 22:3). The second son of Javan, Genesis 10:4. In fact, in ancient times, the British Isles were known as the Cassiterides, which means Tin Islands.. 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 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." that is, the inhabitants of a tract of country between the Caspian and Euxine Seas, which nearly corresponded to the modern Georgia. The same place-name occurs in the Akkadian inscriptions of Esarhaddon (the Assyrian king, d.669BC) and also on the Phoenician inscription of the Nora Stone in Sardinia; its precise location was never commonly known, and was eventually lost in antiquity. Limited Time Offer! Javan had four sons of whom Tarshish was the second. Jonah 1:1-3 ESV / 11 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. In the olden days, it was one of the largest and most affluent cities. The developments in Turkey bear careful watch as its leader seeks to establish a more radical Sunni state and support actions to impede the Shiite ambitions of Iran. The season for navigation in those seas in ancient times was from April to October. [/su_box], Enter your email to receive new articles straight to your Inbox, The Herald of Hope Silver and iron were minerals that could be found in many locations in the area of the Mediterranean Sea. Speaking of Yahweh's wonders to be performed toward His people after Babylon had been overthrown, the prophet declares: "Thus saith Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing" (Isaiah 43:14). Tarshish is the name of the Phoenician colony on the river Tartessus, called also Baetis, the modern Guadalquivir. In the Oracle against Tyre, the prophet Ezekiel (27:12) mentions that silver, iron, lead, and tin came to Tyre from Tarshish (Trsys). The name Tarshish (or Tharshish according to some translations) is assigned five times in the Bible: The first Tarshish is a son of Javan, son of Japheth, son of Noah (Genesis 10:4). Contrary to translations that have been rendering Assyrian tar-si-si as 'Tarsus' up to the present time, Thompson argues that the Assyrian tablets inscribed in Akkadian indicate tar-si-si (Tarshish) was a large island in the western Mediterranean, and that the poetic construction of Psalm72:10 also shows that it was a large island to the very distant west of Phoenicia. "When Jonah, also, arose up to flee unto Tarshish, he sailed from Joppa on the coast of Syria, and the circumstances mentioned (in Jonah 1,) imply that his voyage was of some length, and coupled with the intention which led him to undertake it, makes it probable that the Tarshish he sought was the Cassiterides, or Tin Islands, the most distant and least known colony of Tyre. The ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish. It was the birth pains of a nation being re-born that had not existed in over 2400 years. 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). "Ships of Kittim" are mentioned in Daniel (11:30). Oil is transacted in US dollars. Tarshish may have settled nearby in today's Lebanon. A variation on the name, Tarshishi, is found among Arabs of Lebanese descent, and likely indicates a family connection to the Lebanese village Tarshish. 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). 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 of these minerals was tin. "The flag proper," says Davidson (ad loc. "(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. Tarshish (Phoenician: TR, Hebrew: Tar, Greek: , Tharseis) occurs in the Hebrew Bible with several uncertain meanings, most frequently as a place (probably a large city or region) far across the sea from Phoenicia (modern Lebanon) and the Land of Israel.Tarshish was said to have exported vast quantities of important metals to . In this case, knowing the location of Tarshish unveils little known prophecies in Psalms and Isaiah that were not fulfilled until the twentieth century.If you look up Tarshish in different biblical commentaries, you will get different answers about its location. Genesis 10:2. 5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every . This view is supported by standard Hebrew language reference books.. 8. The first time it is mentioned in scriptures as a place, it states that King Solomon sent his ships there to trade. The location of Tarshish is uncertain, since the biblical references to it are vague and apparently contradictory. This Corpus dates between 1200 and 586BC, and the hoards in it are all silver-dominant. One of the connections with Biblical prophecy is found in Isaiah 60. Tartessus may well have been the Arabic form of the name Tarshish and the Spanish appear to identify Tartessians as the early Britons. It is reputed to be the oldest mine in the world.). The Rio Tinto mine just north of Huelva was first worked by the Phoenicians and still produces copper. We have already noted the historical record which assumes that Tartessus was in Spain and that Tarshish was Tartessus however, it also acknowledged that tin was sourced from Cornwall as follows: 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. The Greeks refer to the Cassiterides, or tin islands, and describe them as being situated somewhere near the west coast of Europe. The articles which Tarshish is stated by the prophet Ezekiel, ( Ezekiel 27:12 ) to have supplied to Tyre are precisely such as we know, through classical writers, to have been productions of the Spanish peninsula. 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. Was Jonah swallowed by a whale? This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 14:00. "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". Tarshish, a port trading in precious metals. 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). Tarshish is mentioned in a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah 60:1-12. . The prophecy of Psalms 48 was fulfilled in 1948. (2) tsi (Numbers 24:24 Ezekiel 30:9 Isaiah 33:21), tsi 'addir, "gallant ship"; Daniel 11:30, tsiyim Kittim, "ships of Kittim. Cornwall was the only major source of tin in Europe for the past 2,500 years. In the "Blessing of Jacob" and in the "Blessing of Moses" Zebulun and Issachar are so connected (Genesis 49:13 Deuteronomy 33:19); and in Deborah's Song, which is acknowledged to be a very early fragment of Hebrew literature, Dan and Asher are also spoken of as connected with the life and work of the sea (Judges 5:17). : Southern Phoenician hacksilber hoards and the location of Tarshish. Archealogical research in Cornwall recently identified ancient harbour facilities along with evidence of ancient structures. Salem Media Group. Tarshish traded silver, iron, tin, and lead in the Tyrian markets. The harbour was on the north side of the Cornwall Peninsula and has now silted up. I suspect based on the Apostle Paul wanting to make it to the utter most part to spread the Gospel, it's Spain. What is Tarshish called today? Daniel 8:22. Another example can be found in Psalms 48 where we read that, Fear took hold of them [the Kings] there, and pain as of a woman in birth pangs, as when You break the ships of Tarshish (Psalms 48:6-7). There seems to have been a special relation between Tarshish and Tyre, as there was at one time between Tartessus and Phoenicians. Some 19th-century commentators believed that Tarshish was Britain, including Alfred John Dunkin who claimed "Tarshish demonstrated to be Britain" (1844), George Smith (1850),[29] James Wallis and David King's The British Millennial Harbinger (1861), John Algernon Clarke (1862), and Jonathan Perkins Weethee of Ohio (1887). It is located on the Tarsus River, about 12 miles (20 km) from the Mediterranean Sea coast. . 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). When Job compares his days to "the swift ships" ("the ships of reed" the Revised Version margin), the allusion is most likely to Egypt's, these being skiffs with a wooden keel and the rest of bulrushes, sufficient to carry one person, or at most two, and light, to travel swiftly (9:26). All of the minerals marketed by the merchants of Tarshish could have come from Britain but. The names Tyre and Sidon were famous in the ancient Near East. . ", Tarshish is placed on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea by several biblical passages,[18] and more precisely: west of Israel. In the Gospels:It is the fishing-boats of the Sea of Galilee which exclusively occupy attention in the Gospels. 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).

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