Mar.6] SOCIETY OF BIBLICALARCHEOLOGY. [1894.
WHERE WASTARSHISH?II.P. Le Page Renouf.Tarshish is always mentioned in connection with ships or
commerce.
" Thou breakestthe ships of Tarshish withan east wind,"says
the Psalmist (xlviii,7) ; who is not King David,but a writer familiar
withthe works of the Prophets, evenof those wholivedduringthe
exile. The wordsjust quoted are a direct referenceto Ezekiel
xxvii, 26 : " The Eastwindhathbrokenthee [Tyre]in the midst of
the seas." The Psalmist identifiesTyreandTarshish. But he is
not the earliestauthority for this identification, whichcannotbe
morestrongly expressed than in the " Burden of Tyre," in Isaiah
xxiii.* This prophecy is perfectly intelligible and clear if by
Tarshishwe understand Phoenicia; it is absolutely withoutsenseif
Tartessusis thought of.
" Howl ye ships of Tarshish ; t for it is laid waste....
" Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle...
" Pass ye over to Tarshish ; howl ye inhabitants of the isle.
" Pass throughthy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish, there
is no more strength.
" Howl ye ships of Tarshish, for your strengthis laid waste."
ThePhoenicianshipsare here calleduponto wail for the ruin of
Tyre, which was their strength, and now is laid waste. The
inhabitantsof the isle, that is of the insular Tyre,are told to pass
overto Tarshish, the Phoeniciancoast. Tyre,as the daughter of
Tarshishis told to " pass throughher land as a river," becausethere
is no more strength. " Pass ye over to Tarshish," rHi^tinnVX22J
and" Pass through thy land," "HTlN^2J?, are exactly equivalent
* For the present argumentit matters not whether the prophecy belongsto
Isaiahor to a somewhat latercontemporary.
+ Naves marisin the Vulgate.
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