For the king had at sea the [large cargo] ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

With the east wind
You shattered the ships of Tarshish.

Against all the ships of Tarshish
And against all the beautiful craft.

“The islands and coastlands will confidently wait for Me;
And the ships of Tarshish will come first,
To bring your sons from far away,
Their silver and gold with them,
For the name of the Lord your God,
For the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.

But Jonah ran away to Tarshish to escape from the presence of the Lord [and his duty as His prophet]. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading cities]. So he paid the fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.

To ophir

They came to Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

They went not

Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has broken down what you have built.” So the ships were wrecked and were unable to go to Tarshish.

But a man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let this army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim.

General references

“Tarshish [in Spain] was your customer and traded with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your wares.