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The Israelites were not a maritime people. Solomon had a 'navy of ships' at Ezion Geber, the eastern branch of the Red Sea; but Hiram sent his shipmen 'that had knowledge of the sea' with the servants of Solomon. Ships of Tharshish are also mentioned both in connection with Solomon and Jehoshaphat. 1 Kings 9: 26, 27; 1 Kings 10: 11,
22; 1 Kings 22: 48, 49; 2 Chr. 20: 36, 37; Ps. 48: 7. The ships so often mentioned on the Sea of Galilee in the Gospels were what are now called fishing boats, and were used as such. The ships in which Paul sailed on the Mediterranean were of course larger; those in which he was taken to Rome are well described by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles: the ship wrecked at Malta was evidently an Alexandrian wheat-ship. The nautical terms employed by Luke show that he was well acquainted with maritime subjects. Acts 27. The word for GALLEY in Isa. 33: 21 is the same as that translated 'navy' in the Kings.