There is some dispute as to the location of Tarshish. It has been identified with one of the cities of Phoenicia or with ancient Carthage. Most probably, Tarshish was on the far coast of Spain, beyond Gibraltar. And if this was so, it means that in his disobedience Jonah was determined to go as far as he possibly could go in the direction opposite from that in which God was sending him. Nineveh was east. Tarshish was west. We can visualize the geography if we imagine Jonah coming out of his house in Palestine, looking left down the long road that led around the great Arabian desert to the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and then turning on his heel and going down the road to his right.