Tarshish

Overview

Tarshish is a location mentioned several times in the Old Testament, most famously in the Book of Jonah (Jonah 1:3), where the prophet seeks to flee there to escape God’s command to go to Nineveh. In the biblical narrative, Tarshish represents the furthest imaginable point from the prophet’s divine commission, a symbol of flight from the presence and will of God. Though the exact geographic location of Tarshish remains debated, its thematic and theological significance is clear.

Geographical Uncertainty

The precise location of Tarshish is unknown, but various historical and linguistic clues suggest it was a distant maritime trading port, probably located west of Israel, accessible by sea from Joppa. Possible identifications include:

• Tartessos in south-western Spain, a culture around the lower Guadalquivir that Greek writers knew as a harbor city and that traded with the Phoenicians. Samuel Bochart argued for this identification in 1646.
• Tarsus in Cilicia, in southern Asia Minor, the identification made by Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1).
• Sardinia, proposed by W. F. Albright and Frank Moore Cross because the Phoenician inscription on the Nora Stone names Tarshish.
• Carthage, the rendering the Septuagint and the Vulgate give in several passages, apparently following a Jewish tradition.
• An eastern destination reached from the Red Sea, such as southern India (Samuel Bochart) or Sofala on the south-east African coast (A. H. Keane), because 2 Chronicles 20:36 describes ships built at Ezion-Geber "to go to Tarshish". The parallel account in 1 Kings 22:48 calls Jehoshaphat's ships "ships of Tarshish" bound for Ophir, and others take that phrase to name a class of long-distance vessel rather than a destination.

Regardless of its exact location, biblical texts consistently associate Tarshish with long-distance seafaring, wealth, and exotic imports.

Biblical Significance

The name first appears in the Table of Nations, where Tarshish is listed among the sons of Javan (Genesis 10:4). Outside Jonah, 1 Kings 10:22 and 2 Chronicles 9:21 describe “ships of Tarshish” bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks to King Solomon. Ezekiel 27:12 names Tarshish among the trading partners of Tyre, the great Phoenician port city, exchanging "silver, iron, tin, and lead" for its wares, and Isaiah 23 calls on the "ships of Tarshish" to wail at Tyre's fall. Psalm 72:10 envisions kings of Tarshish bringing tribute in a messianic context. These references indicate that Tarshish was viewed as a wealthy, distant trading partner, and "ships of Tarshish" became a general phrase for large ocean-going vessels.

Theological Significance

In Jonah 1:3, the prophet seeks to flee “to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” While Jonah cannot truly escape God’s presence (Psalm 139:7-10), the narrative uses Tarshish to underscore Jonah’s deliberate rebellion. Nineveh lay to the east, and Jonah boarded a ship at Joppa bound across the sea in the opposite direction, so Tarshish marks the farthest point of his resistance to God’s calling. This attempt to escape ultimately fails, as God pursues Jonah through storm, sea, and fish. Tarshish thus becomes not just a location, but a literary and theological symbol: a place of flight from God, contrasted with God’s relentless pursuit of mercy and obedience.

Broader Biblical Themes

Tarshish also contributes to the Bible’s broader theology of the nations. While its ships once stood for the worldly grandeur the Lord would bring low (Isaiah 2:12-16), Isaiah 66:19 names Tarshish among the nations and "coastlands far away" to which the Lord will send survivors to declare his glory.