2 Chronicles 20:36 - "He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Eziongeber."

Although many of us enjoy the sea and a great many Americans own and sail boats of many kinds, if we stop to think about the contrasts between our country and Palestine, perhaps we will be able to understand the reasoning behind a statement that the Jews were not a sea-minded people. Look at a map of Palestine, and compare it with our own country, and look at the differences in coastal area! And, with little experience, or necessity, to use ships, the Jews couldn’t have cared less about the sea!

In fact, even Josephus admits that the Jews had to be in the midst of the direst circumstances before they would consider going to sea. However, he also tells us of some who did so - as pirates, no less - after the fall of Jerusalem.

But, there were many of the peoples of the ancient world who depended on the seas for their lives. And these peoples became the world’s earliest sailors. Even in prehistoric Egypt, shipbuilders made ships of papyrus reeds. And by 2130 B.C., Egyptian shipbuilders were powered by a large rectangular sail that was supported by a single mast. In contrast, boats on the Sea of Galilee were usually small and powered by oars and sails.

Ships sailing on the Mediterranean were generally between fifteen and seventy-five tons. These ships had sails, but they also carried as many as twenty oars for emergencies. Two large oars in the stern served as rudders, and each ship carried at least three anchors.

In New Testament times, the bows of ships were swept up to a carved figure that represented the name of the ship. On the stern, the ship carried a statue of the patron god of the vessel’s home port.

Today, we have marine designers, who have extensive training in their field, but in biblical times it was a master ship’s carpenter who drew up the design for the ship that was to be built. These men probably had served a long apprenticeship, since, after all, a great deal of skill was required.

If you would like to have an idea of what a sea-voyage was like at the time of Christ, for example, read the voyages of St. Paul, especially Acts 27 and 28, which Lord Nelson said taught him his trade! Then we can understand why the Jews were much happier on solid land!