Tarshish

Tarshish was a distant port city, most often identified with a location in the far western Mediterranean, possibly in the region of ancient Spain, representing in the biblical imagination one of the farthest reachable destinations by sea from the land of Israel.

Tarshish is best known as the destination Jonah attempted to flee to when commanded to go to Nineveh instead. Jonah 1:3 records that 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... to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of the LORD."

Jonah later explains his motive for this flight directly. Jonah 4:2 records him admitting to God, "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 merciful," revealing that his flight was rooted in a reluctance to see Nineveh shown the same mercy he himself relied upon.

Tarshish also appears as a genuine center of maritime trade and wealth elsewhere in Scripture. 1 Kings 10:22 records that King Solomon possessed "a navy of Tharshish" that brought back gold, silver, ivory, and other valuable goods every three years, reflecting the real, established trading relationship between Israel and this distant port.

Isaiah 66:19 lists Tarshish among the far-off nations to whom God's glory would be declared, and Ezekiel 27:12 describes Tarshish trading with Tyre "with silver, iron, tin, and lead," confirming its genuine reputation as a wealthy and significant trading partner in the ancient world.

Tarshish's real status as one of the most distant, wealthy trading destinations known to ancient Israel makes Jonah's attempted flight there all the more vivid -- an effort to place the greatest possible distance between himself and the calling he wished to avoid.