(3) ploion, "boat" (Matthew 4:21, 22 and many other places in the Gospels-the ordinary fishingboat of the Sea of Galilee rendered "boat" uniformly in the Revised Version (British and American) instead of "ship" the King James Version), "ship" (Acts 20:13, and all other places where the ship carrying Paul is mentioned, except Acts 27:41, as above). Was there a joint nautical venture on the Mediterranean Sea by Tyrian Phoenicians and Early Israelites?'. Among Neighboring Nations(1) Egypt(2) Assyria and Babylonia(3) Phoenicia3. 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. 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. 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). nine 1. Instead, the lack of evidence for wealth in Israel and Phoenicia during the reigns of Solomon and Hiram, respectively, prompted a few scholars to opine that the archaeological period in Mediterranean prehistory between 1200 and 800BC was a 'Dark Age'.[2]. The name of this place first comes to notice in the days of Solomon. The expression "ships of Tarshish" originally meant ships destined to go to Tarshish; and then probably came to signify large Phoenician ships, of a particular size the description, destined for long voyages, just as in English "East Indiaman" was a general name given to vessels, some of which were not intended to go to India at all. Pharaoh-necoh built up a powerful navy to serve him both in commerce and in war.SeePHARAOH-NECOH.Of explicit references to Egyptian ships in the Old Testament there are but few. Nevertheless, different sources have referred to it as a city, a mountain, even a river the Guadalquivir. They are recorded for us in the Acts by Luke, who, as Sir William Ramsay puts it, had the true Greek feeling for the sea (St. Paul the Traveler, 21). "(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. (2) One of the "seven princes" at the court of Ahasuerus (Esther 1:14 Massoretic Text). (2) Assyria and Babylonia.The Assyrians and Babylonians were mainly an inland people, but their rivers gave them considerable scope for navigation. It may be a reminiscence of the sea when Paul in the very earliest of his Epistles (1 Thessalonians 4:16), speaking of the coming of the Lord, says "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout" en keleusmati), where the picture is that of the keleustes, giving the time to the rowers on board a ship. Ezekiel's description (chapter 27, with Davidson's notes) brings together more of the features of the ship of antiquity than any other that has come down to us. Tarshish can refer to either Tarsis in Cilicia (Southeast Turkey) or to Tarshish (Tartessos to the Greeks) in Southwest Spain. At the end of his story, Jonah specifies his reason for resistance: "That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. 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. It was believed to be at the ends of the Earth, as far away as one could possibly go in the known world at that time. Among Neighboring Nations:(1) Egypt.The Egyptians, like other nations of antiquity, had a great horror of the open sea, although they were expert enough in managing their craft upon the Nile. There is no restraint any more. Where is biblical Tarsus located? Cush is Ethiopia. I. (The word may mean a "refinery . There is a very close similarity of name between them, Tartessus being merely Tarshish in the Aramaic form. The first time it is mentioned in scriptures as a place, it states that King Solomon sent his ships there to trade. of 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. About this period we hear of ships in naval warfare. }. Gen 10:4-5 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. Elle avait une suite fort nombreuse, et des chameaux portant des aromates, de l'or en grande quantit et des pierres prcieuses. [23] This is the theory espoused by Father Mapple in Chapter 9 of Moby Dick.[24]. 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. Wail, you inhabitants of the coast! 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). SHIPS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE APOCRYPHA1. When God sent Jonah as a missionary to the capital, Nineveh, the prophet balked. Jonah 1:3; 4:2. 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). ", Tarshish is placed on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea by several biblical passages,[18] and more precisely: west of Israel. (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. 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. The Bible definitely gives the indication that Tarshish was far away from Israel. What is Tarshish called today? Beth Togarmah is Asia Minor. What is Tarshish called today? 2 Chronicles 9:21 For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. . ); 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. [Eds. 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. 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). They are also associatedwith Sheba and Dedan whosedescendants populated theArabian Peninsula. Bible verses about Tarshish. one to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil? The four sons of Javan, namely; Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim. In the late Bronze Age and into the early Iron Age, tin was a necessary ingredient for making bronze. [/su_box], Enter your email to receive new articles straight to your Inbox, The Herald of Hope 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). 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 fact, in ancient times, the British Isles were known as the Cassiterides, which means Tin Islands.. 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. " Archealogical research in Cornwall recently identified ancient harbour facilities along with evidence of ancient structures. Now Caesarea has disappeared; and Joppa has only an open roadstead where vessels lie without shelter, and receive and discharge cargo and passengers by means of boats plying between them and the shore. However, it seems that one of those metals was not plentiful in Spain and that metal was tin. While this is just a comic series it is based on fact as Encyclopedia Wikipedia states: Britain was not unknown to the Classical world. Thus, Jonah flees to Tarshish from the presence of Yhwh (Jonah i. Throughout history the family of Javan have been merchants, traders and colonizers. 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. Tarshish was a nation that was rich in minerals and supplied the known world in the 6th century BC through the markets at the coastal city of Tyre. If we can identify the source of these metals in the ancient world (6th century BC) then we can be certain about which country is Tarshish in the last days. This seemingly rules out Spain as Tarshish and the Latin American countries as the young lions. In the Acts of the Apostles3. Herein, how far is Tarshish from Joppa? Ancient evidencegoes back to TheHistories byHerodotus who wroteabout 450BC and isknown as the Fatherof Ancient History. The city was an ancient Phoenician port and industrial center which, in myth, is known as . 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. (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. In recent years the Spanish people have shown increased interest in their roots and a comic series made reference to Tertessus: Probably more appealing to readers is the recent and highly successful comic series Tartessos. Spain colonized South America but Britain colonized the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many more places. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! Tarshish may have settled nearby in today's Lebanon. The friendly cooperation was continued by Solomon, who availed himself not only of the cedar and the fir at Hiram's command on Lebanon, but also of the skilled service of Hiram's men to bring the timber from the mountains to the sea. 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. However, seemingly insignificant things in the Bible are sometimes the key to unlocking its greatest treasures. [4][10], The editors of the New Oxford Annotated Bible, first published in 1962, suggest that Tarshish is either Sardinia or Tartessos. Ships in the New Testament.1. Herodotus tells the story of a boat that was driven by a storm past the Pillars of Hercules and ended up in Tertessus: The crew, informed by Corobius of all the circumstances, left him sufficient food for a year. ( 1Kings 10:22 ) The gold might possibly have been obtained form Africa, or from Ophir in Arabia, and the ivory and the apes might likewise have been imported from Africa; but the peacocks point conclusively, not to Africa, but to India. The metals were reportedly obtained in partnership with King Hiram of Phoenician Tyre (Isaiah23), and fleets of ships from Tarshish. Fausset's Bible Dictionary says that the ancient city of Tarshish is located in Southern Spain. "The flag proper," says Davidson (ad loc. Tin was a very important and valuable raw material for the ancient world. Cush describes present-day Ethiopia and the black nations of Central Africa. "Copper, tin, silver, and iron: The search for metallic ores as an incentive for foreign expansion". He wrote: Now these are thefarthest regions ofthe world in Asiaand Libya. 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). 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). = It is also interesting to note that one of Javan's sons Tarshish has become what is today modern day Spain. In this feature, unless otherwise indicated, we use the term "Tarshish" as synonymous with Tartessos in Spain. This is still reputed to be the "Merchants of Tarshish" today by some Christian sects. It was the birth pains of a nation being re-born that had not existed in over 2400 years. 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. (1 Chronicles 7:6&10 KJV) Wikipedia is wrong on Benjamin's . According to historians, Nineveh is an ancient city in present day Iraq. Itineraria Phoenicia. It was a Phoenician colony, and was the most celebrated emporium in the west to which the Hebrews and Phoenicians traded. Tarshish in Scripture has young lions or offshoot nations such as colonies. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning, a Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning "the sea coast.". Tarshish is also the name of a modern village in the Mount Lebanon District of Lebanon . Tiras. (After the capture of Jerusalem the emperor Titus returned to Italy in such a vessel, touching at Rhegium and landing at Puteoil.) 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). The harbour was on the north side of the Cornwall Peninsula and has now silted up. Isaiah 66:19 "I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the islands afar off, who have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. In James 3:4 Revelation 8:9; Revelation 18:17;, it is rendered "ship. There are three schools of thought where Tarshish is concerned. He was going in the total opposite direction that God told him to go, on a boat travelling as far as they go. Where did the minerals from Tarshish come from? One of them is that the merchants (of Tarshish) are concerned about the motives of the invaders. Usually reference is madeto the ships of Tarshish or themerchants of Tarshish. The ships of Tarshish will suffer during the judgments of the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 2:16; Psalm 48:7). Tarshish [N] [H] [S] a Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning "the sea coast." One of the "sons" of Javan ( Genesis 10:4 ; 1 Chronicles 1:7 ). Be the `` seven princes '' at the court of Ahasuerus ( Esther 1:14 Massoretic Text ) Sea... Thought where Tarshish is located in Southern Spain, tin was a colony... Mean a & quot ; refinery over 2400 years TheHistories byHerodotus who wroteabout 450BC and isknown the... 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Isaiah 2:16 ; Psalm 48:7 ) judgments of the `` seven princes '' at the court of (. ( 2 ) Assyria and Babylonia ( 3 ) Phoenicia3 carry away silver and,. Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning `` the flag proper, '' says Davidson ad! A boat travelling as far as they go a mountain, even a the! The Guadalquivir in fact, in ancient times, the British Isles were known as the young lions or nations.

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