Isaiah 2:16

And upon all the ships of Tarshish,.... Upon all the merchants and merchandises of Rome. The Targum is, "and upon all that dwell in the islands of the sea.'' See Revelation 16:20.

And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And upon all the ships of Tarshish - Tartessus, in southwest Spain, at the mouth of the Guadalquiver, near Gibraltar. It includes the adjoining region.

The ships of Tarshish; the ships of the sea, as that word is used, , whereby you fetched riches and precious things from the remote parts of the world.

Isaiah 2:16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.Ver. 16. And upon all the ships of Tarshish.] Or, Of the Mediterranean Sea, the ships whereof were of great bulk and burden, and perhaps were garnished and inlaid with curious pictures, called here pictures of desire: “ Pictasque innare carinas. ” - Virg.

(16) And upon all the ships of Tarshish.—The words point to the commerce in the Red Sea carried on by the fleets of Uzziah and Jotham (1 Kings 22:48); perhaps also to that in the Mediterranean with Tarshish, or Tartessus (Spain), as in Jonah 1:3. The “ships of Tarshish” had come to be used generically for all ships of the class used in such commerce, whether crossing the Mediterranean to Spain, or circumnavigating Africa, or passing over the Persian Gulf to Ophir. Upon all pleasant pictures.—Literally, upon all imagery of delight (Comp. Leviticus 26:1; Numbers 33:52.) The combination of the phrase with “the ships of Tarshish” suggests the inference that it includes the works of art which were brought by them from East and West. For these, it would seem, there was a mania among the higher classes in Jerusalem, like that which in later times has fastened upon china, or pictures, or carvings in ivory. So the ships of Solomon brought gold and silver, and “ivory and apes and peacocks” (1 Kings 10:22). The “ivory beds” of Amos 6:4, the “gold rings set with the beryl,” the “ivory overlaid with sapphires,” the “pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold” of Son 5:14-15, the precious things in the treasury of Hezekiah (Isaiah 39:2), may be taken as examples of this form of luxury. The æstheticism of the Roman Empire, of the Renaissance of the fifteenth century, of the age of Louis XIV., of our own time and country, presents obvious parallels.

Verse 16. See Clarke on Isaiah 2:13.

16. ships of Tarshish] The largest class of merchant vessels then used. They were first built by the Phœnicians for the long voyage to Tartessus (Tarshish) in Spain; but the name (like our “Indiaman”) was applied to large ships whatever their destination. Since the harbour of Elath was at this time in the possession of Judah the prophet may allude to fleets sailing thence to the East in the service of Jotham. More likely, however, he is thinking of the Phœnician argosies which he had seen in the Mediterranean. pleasant pictures] An obscure expression, found only here. The noun is thought to be derived from a verb meaning “to see,” but this lends itself to a variety of senses. The rendering of A.V. seems to rest on the Vulg., “omne quod visu pulchrum est”; or perhaps like that of R.V. (“imagery”) on the analogy of a cognate Heb. noun (Numbers 33:52; Proverbs 25:11); “watch-towers” (R.V. marg.) is based on the Peshito (see Cheyne, Comm. II. p. 137),

And upon all the ships of Tarshish - Ships of Tarshish are often mentioned in the Old Testament, but the meaning of the expression is not quite obvious; see 1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21; 2

16. Ships of Tarshish — Meaning, perhaps, large and strong ships, suitable for distant voyages. “Tarshish” is supposed to be Tartessus, in the southwest of Spain. But it denotes, by way of figure, commerce in general.