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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comFausset Bible Dictionary: Tarshish
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Tartessus (as Asshur became Athur, Bashan, Batanoea), a Phoenician city S. of Spain; the portion of Spain known to the Hebrew (). "The kings of Tarshish ... kings of Sheba," i.e. the wealthy Tarshish in the far W. and Sheba in the S.E. Tarshish was a dependency of Phoenician Tyre. ; ("pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish," i.e. Tartessus and its inhabitants would now that Tyre's strength was disabled pour forth as waters, no longer kept working mines for the parent city), 14,18; ; ; . "Tarshish was thy (Tyre's) merchant ... with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs."
Tarshish was famed for various metals exported to Tyre; most of them were drawn from Spain and Portugal, tin possibly from Cornwall or from Lusitania or Portugal. "Ships of Tarshish" are mentioned often: , "Thou brakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind," alluding with undesigned coincidence to the event recorded -37; "Jehoshaphat joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel to make ships to go to Tarshish ... in Ezion Gaber ... because ... the Lord hath broken thy works," i.e. wrecked thy ships. The ships of Tarshish built at Ezion Geber on the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea () were intended by Jehoshaphat to trade with Africa and India; but a copyist in makes them go to Tarshish.
It is possible they were carried across the land to the Mediterranean, but more likely that "ships of Tarshish" mean large vessels, as our phrase "East Indiamen" does not imply the destination but the size; the copyist mistook the phrase for the destination. So in ; ; ; the "peacocks" point to India, for southern Asia and the isles of the eastern archipelago are their native home. The names too are of Sanskrit etymology, tukki, related to Tamil Iota, "the tailed bird," i.e. peacock. So "apes," kaph, related to Sanskrit kapi. The Greeks received the peacock from Persia, as the Greek taos is the Persian tans. Strabo makes the Boetis or Guadalquivir (great stream) be called Tartessus. An island, a town, and a region bore the name. (On , which Rawlinson refers to Tarsus, at the close.) (See TARSUS.)