Where exactly is Tarshish ?

[Apple Sky]

Tarshish is mentioned several times in the Bible.

And Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired …” (1 King 9:11) “For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram.

Chronicles 2 20:36​

And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongaber.

Psalms 72:10​

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

Isaiah 23:6​

Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

Isaiah 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 heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles

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 them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD

So where is Tarshish ? Is it Spain or maybe the UK ?

Why I think it's the UK (British Isles) is because King Tyre imported the cedar trees for King Solomon's Temple & the cedar trees are known for growing in Britain.

Or could we say that Tarshish is the whole of Europe ?

 

[KevinT]

Interesting. I always thought it was somewhere in Lebanon, i.e. “the cedars of Lebanon“, but I have never looked into it.
Here is an article about it from Wikipedia

Tarshish - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It indicates that the location has been lost over time and that people have been trying to figure this out for an ages. Europe itself, or Britain are apparently reasonable theories.

Best wishes.

KT

 

[ViaCrucis]

Interesting. I always thought it was somewhere in Lebanon, i.e. “the cedars of Lebanon“, but I have never looked into it.
Here is an article about it from Wikipedia

Tarshish - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It indicates that the location has been lost over time and that people have been trying to figure this out for an ages. Europe itself, or Britain are apparently reasonable theories.

Best wishes.

KT

It's possible that it simply refers to "a distant island to the west" rather than a specific and real-world physical location. Different cultures and peoples from all over the world have, throughout history, spoken of distant lands, distant territories, distant islands under different names; and often are used in such a way as to speak of "a very far away place". We do that with real places too, especially in modern times where we have a fairly good sense of the globe. Growing up the old trope was to talk about China as the opposite side of the world, and referring to China, or some other Eastern locale, has been a common trope in Western cultures for a few hundred years as a way to talk about somewhere very far away, or the most distant from where one is. The Greeks, for example, spoke of Hyperborea, a supposed land far to the north--there is no Hyperborea, not really anyway, but it had meaning to refer to some place very far away.

The Bible likely has several such examples, Tarshish and unnamed islands (possibly vague references to islands in the Mediterranean), or to the famous Gog and Magog as another example; though Gog and Magog probably serve a more significant role as ways of talking about otherwise unnamed/unidentified/hypothetical foreign enemies of Israel rather than simply as a way of talking about a distant land.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Bob Crowley]

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops had a footnote to verses 6 & 7 in one of their suggested readings -

Isaiah, CHAPTER 23

Daily Bible Readings, Podcast Audio and Videos and Prayers brought to you by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

bible.usccb.org

6. Pass over to Tarshish,*
wail, you who dwell on the coast!

7. Is this your exultant city,
whose origin is from old,
Whose feet have taken her
to dwell in distant lands?

* [23:6–7] Tarshish: perhaps Tartessus in Spain. Distant lands: the reference is to the far-flung colonies established by the Phoenicians throughout the Mediterranean, including North Africa, Spain, and Sardinia. Oceangoing vessels were therefore called Tarshish ships.

It was probably mostly used as a generic term for places a long way distant, rather than a specific location, although Tartessus in Spain is one suggestion for a real location.

Encyclopedia Britannica had a few words on the topic -

Tartessus | Iberian Peninsula, Phoenicians, Trade | Britannica

Tartessus, ancient region and town of the Guadalquivir River valley in southwestern Spain, probably identical with the Tarshish mentioned in the Bible. It prospered from trade with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians but was probably destroyed by the latter about 500 bc. The exact site of the town is

www.britannica.com

Tartessus. ancient region and town, Spain
Also known as: Tarshish, Tartessos

Related Places: Spain
Tartessus, ancient region and town of the Guadalquivir River valley in southwestern Spain, probably identical with the Tarshish mentioned in the Bible. It prospered from trade with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians but was probably destroyed by the latter about 500 BC. The exact site of the town is not known, but archaeological evidence suggests it may have been near present-day Sevilla (Seville).

Sometimes when I've heard the familiar story of Jonah running away to Tarshish, the speaker has indicated he was trying to reach Spain, which is at the other end of the Mediterranean to Israel.

But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

 

[Apple Sky]

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops had a footnote to verses 6 & 7 in one of their suggested readings -

Isaiah, CHAPTER 23

Daily Bible Readings, Podcast Audio and Videos and Prayers brought to you by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

bible.usccb.org

It was probably mostly used as a generic term for places a long way distant, rather than a specific location, although Tartessus in Spain is one suggestion for a real location.

Encyclopedia Britannica had a few words on the topic -

Tartessus | Iberian Peninsula, Phoenicians, Trade | Britannica

Tartessus, ancient region and town of the Guadalquivir River valley in southwestern Spain, probably identical with the Tarshish mentioned in the Bible. It prospered from trade with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians but was probably destroyed by the latter about 500 bc. The exact site of the town is

www.britannica.com

Sometimes when I've heard the familiar story of Jonah running away to Tarshish, the speaker has indicated he was trying to reach Spain, which is at the other end of the Mediterranean to Israel.

Tin is mentioned with brass, iron and lead in Numbers 31:22; Ezekiel 22:18,20. Ezekiel mentions tin along with silver, iron and lead as being imported into Tyre from Tarshish.

Cornwall and Devon were important sources of tin for Europe and the Mediterranean throughout ancient times and may have been the earliest sources of tin in Western Europe, with evidence for trade to the Eastern Mediterranean by the Late Bronze Age.