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Bible Encyclopedias
Tarshish
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Tar´shish, a celebrated part of the ancient world, about the exact position of which opinions are much divided. From a careful examination of the various Scriptural accounts and allusions it appears that Tarshish was an old, celebrated, opulent, cultivated, commercial city, which carried on trade in the Mediterranean and with the sea-ports of Syria, especially Tyre and Joppa, and that in all probability it is to be identified with Tartessus in Spain, which appears to have lain not far from the Straits of Gibraltar and near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, consequently at no great distance from the famous Granada of later days. It is not improbable, however, that the name may have been employed in a wider sense, and may have denoted the district of southwestern Spain, comprising the several colonies which Tyre planted in that country.
Tarshish, 2
Tarshish, a precious stone, so called as brought from Tarshish, as Ophir is also put for the gold brought from thence (;;;;;; ). The Septuagint, followed by Josephus, makes it the 'chrysolyte,' i.e. the topaz of the moderns, which is still found in Spain. Others suppose it to be 'amber:' but this does not agree with the passages in Exodus, which make the Tarshish to have been one of the engraved stones of the high-priest's breast-plate. The word is translated 'beryl' in the Authorized Version.
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Tarshish'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/t/tarshish.html.
