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Biblical Person · Old · Primeval

Tarshish

Tarshish was a son of Javan, mentioned in the Table of Nations in Genesis, and is associated with maritime trade and distant lands.

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Javan (father)

Where Tarshish appears

21 verses across 9 books.

Isa7×2Chr3×Ezek3×Ps2×Jonah2×Gen1×1Chr1×Esth1×Jer1×

Verses mentioning Tarshish

  • 1Chr 1:7 — And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
  • 2Chr 9:21 — For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
  • 2Chr 20:36 — And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongaber.
  • 2Chr 20:37 — Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they
  • Esth 1:14 — And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king’s face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)
  • Ezek 27:12 — 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.
  • Ezek 27:25 — The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
  • Ezek 38:13 — 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? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silv
  • Gen 10:4 — And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
  • Isa 2:16 — And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
  • Isa 23:1 — The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
  • Isa 23:6 — Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.
  • Isa 23:10 — Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
  • Isa 23:14 — Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.
  • Isa 60:9 — Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel
  • Isa 66:19 — And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not he
  • Jer 10:9 — Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning m
  • Jonah 1:3 — But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with the
  • Jonah 4:2 — And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and me
  • Ps 48:7 — Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
  • Ps 72:10 — The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Voices from the tradition

The Church Fathers on Tarshish

Patristic commentary on the Scriptures that name Tarshish.

"And from them I will send" the sign "to Tarshish, Tubal and Javan," and to all the other cities, which came to help the house of Gog in its fight against Zerubbabel, that is, against Christ, who was symbolized by Zerubbabel, the king of the people in its return from captivity to the land of the inheritance of the Lord. Therefore the…

(Verse 9.) Silver brought from Tarshish is plated (or brought) and gold from Ophaz, the work of an artist and the hand of a craftsman. Hyacinthus and their purple garment: the work of craftsmen (or wise men) all these things. It is brought from Tharsis. Tharsis is either a region of India, as Josephus says, or certainly the entire sea…

(Ver. 4.) The sons of Javan were Elisha and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. From them were divided the islands of the nations in their lands, each according to its language, its kindred, and its people. From the Ionians, that is, the Greeks, were born the Aeolians, who are called Aeolians: hence the fifth language of Greece is called…

"With a strong wind You shall break the ships of Tarshish" [Psalm 48:6]. Briefly understood, this is, You shall overthrow the pride of the nations. But where in this history is mentioned the overthrowing of the pride of the nations? Because of "the ships of Tarshish." Learned men have enquired for Tarshish a city, that is, what city…

— Augustine of Hippo (430) on Ps 48:7

"The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From the Ionians, that is, the Greeks, are born the Elishah, who are called Elishites, hence also the fifth language of Greece is called Aeolic, which they call 'penten dialecton.' Josephus assumes Tharsis to be Cilicia, saying that the letter 'h' has been corruptly…

Historic voices touch this life

50 passages from 10 historic works cite verses that mention Tarshish.