20.12 The phrase אני/אניות תרשיש ‘fleet/ships of
Tarshish’ serves as a technical idiom in the Bible, with a fixed linguistic
structure, to denote a type of ship having specific dimensions, shape,
strength, and carrying capacity. These ships served in the merchant fleets of
Tyre and Israel and sailed the Mediterranean and the Red Sea (1 Kgs 10;22; 22:29;
isa 2:16; 23:1, 14; Ezek 27;25; Ps 48:8).
1 Kgs 10:22, speaking of Solomon, relates “that
the king had ships of Tarshish at sea. . . . Once every three years the ships
of Tarshish would come, bearing gold and silver.” Similarly, we are told that Jehosophat,
king of Judah, built “ships of Tarshish to sail to Ophir for gold. But he did
not, for the ships broke at Ezion-geber” (1 Kgs 22:49).
These narratives are related in the parallel
texts in Chronicles but with a change in the language: “fleet/ships of
Tarshish” becomes “ships sailing to Tarshish”:
|
2 Chr 9:21 |
כי אניות למלך הלכות תרשיש |
For the king had ships |
|
2 Chr 20:36-37 |
ויתבהו עמו לעשות אניות ללכת תרשיש ויעשו אניות בעציון גבר . . . וישברו אניות ולא עצרו ללכת אל תרשיש |
Then he joined him in |
Täckholm believes that here the Chronicler
preserved and early, more accurate tradition. He claims that “Tarshish” is the
name of a place in Africa on the coast of the Red Sea, where precious
tones—“Tarshish” stones (Exod 28:20; 39:13)—were found. The name “Tarshish” was
given to the ships because of their destination and their cargo (Tarshish
stones and tropical goods). However, there is no supporting evidence for the
claim that Solomon and Hiram imported “Tarshish” in vessels of Tarshish. See
further below, especially in connection with the location of Tarshish. There is
also no justification for Elat’s assumption that the reading תרשיש in 2 Chr
9:21; 20:36-37 “is an error made by a scribe or a copyist.” Elat does not
explain just how this error came about, and there is no support for his claim
in the various witnesses to the text. Furthermore, it is difficult to assume
that one “scribe or copyist” made the same mistake in two verses that are
connected with the reigns of two different kings.
It seems to me that this alteration was made
deliberately by the Chronicler in order to clarify the meaning of the phrase אני)ות(תרשיש.
As a late historian, he was no longer aware of the use of the technical idiom
“ships of Tarshish” to denote a type of boat. He altered the fixed linguistic
construction and turned the name “Tarshish” into the name of a place on the Red
Sea coast. This was an early attempt to explain the term אניות תרשיש, similar
to the attempts made in later Jewish literature. For instance:
a.
In the Septuagint of 1 Kgs 10:22, the translator wrote ωαυ εκ Θαρσις, ‘ships from Tarshish’
in place of the words “ships of Tarshish.” That is, “ships of Tarshish” were
merely “ships coming from Tarshish.”
b.
In Ant. 8.181, Josephus wrote: “for the king [Solomon] had many
ships stationed in the Sea of Tarshish (Ταρσικη θαλασσα), as it was called.” In other words, “ships of
Tarshish” were merely ships that set sail in the Sea of Tarshish.
c.
In Tg. Jonathan on Isa 2:16 (ועל כל אניות תרשיש),
we find ועל כל נחתי ספני ימא. The translator seems to have understood
“Tarshish” to be related to θαλασσης ‘sea’; the
Septuagint and already translated the phrase πλοιον θαλασσης ‘ships of the sea’.
d.
The Aramaic translation of 2 Chr 20;36 uses the name טורסוס (in place
of תרשיש) and alongside it gives the explanation לימא ובא ‘to the
great sea’.
These translators apparently attempted to explain
the word “Tarshish” itself with reference to the most similar-sounding Greek
word. Evidently, these explanations are far form being straightforward
interpretations of the word.
The inaccuracy of the explanation proposed in
Chronicles stands out prominently in light of the clear narrative of the
earlier text: “Jehosophat built ships of Tarshish to sail to Ophir for
gold” (1 Kgs 22:49)—“to Ophir,” not “to Tarshish!” Moreover, according to this
text, the objective of the ships of Tarshish built by Jehoshaphat was to import
gold. That gold was imported from Ophir is also clear from the narrative
about the naval expeditions in the days of Solomon (1 Kgs 9:26-28/ // 2 Chr
8:17-18; 1 Kgs 10:11 // 2 Chr 9:10). On the other hand, from Tarshish, they
used to import primarily silver but also iron, tin, and lead (Jer 10:9; Ezek
27:12).
The Chronicler’s explanation does not fit the
historical and geographical facts of the First Temple period either. The fact
is that there was a port (or ports) named Tarshish in the Mediterranean basin,
not on the Red Sea coast, where Ezion-geber was located (near modern Elat),
from Jehoshaphat wanted to set sail to Tarshish, according to the Chronicler.
That Tarshish was on the Mediterranean coast is clear from the words of
Esarhaddon, king of Assyria:
šarranimeš ša qabal tamtim kalîšunu ultu māt Iadanna māt
Iaman adi māt Tarsisi ana šēpeya iknušu
all the
kings living on the sea, from Iadanan [= Cyprus] and
Greece to Tarshish, surrendered at my feet.
The narrative about the prophet Jonah, who fled
from the Lord, also says, “Then he went down to Jaffa and found a boast sailing
for Tarshish” (Jonah 1:3). The Table of Nations in Gen 10:4-5 (which the
Chronicler copied into his work: 1 Chr 1:7!) lists Tarshish with the other
descendants of Javan, who were Elishah (= Cyprus), Kittim, and Dodanim.
Source: Isaac Kalimi, The Reshaping of Ancient
Israelite History in Chronicles (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2005), 393-96
