Ships of the Bible

From the ark of bulrushes on the Nile to Paul’s grain ship wrecked on Malta, the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are full of ships: fleets, fishing boats, and a whole city pictured as a merchant ship.

This chapter of Sacred Ships holds 15 ships. For each one we give the source, what happens, and only what the text itself says about the vessel. See all 102 ships on one page.

Subject to interpretation, Marea can build any of these ships as a scale model, with the maximum detail the scale permits. We build her as the text describes her: the timber, the oars, the sails. Seventeen of these texts even give her size or her crew.

This database was put together by Ai Refloat™, Marea’s own artificial intelligence, from published translations of the texts and from museum and university sources. Ai Refloat is still young & like any teenager, it can be a little volatile and unpredictable at times, but above all, it is learning fast. So this list may well contain mistakes and we welcome the input of everyone who knows these texts and traditions better than we do.

Have you spotted a mistake? Tell us which ship and which text, and we will amend it accordingly. Tell us here

The ships

Ships of the Bible · Hebrew Bible
The Ark of Bulrushes Chest or basket
Exodus 2:1 to 10
Tradition Hebrew Bible
When she can no longer hide her infant son, his mother lays him in a small ark among the flags by the river. Pharaoh's daughter finds it while bathing, takes pity on the crying child and raises him as her son, Moses.
The vessel “An ark of bulrushes” daubed “with slime and with pitch” (2:3, KJV).
Sources Bible Gateway
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · Hebrew Bible
Jonah's Ship to Tarshish Voyaging ship
Jonah 1:3 to 17
Tradition Hebrew Bible
Jonah flees from the Lord and pays his fare on a ship at Joppa bound for Tarshish. A great tempest threatens to break it; the mariners throw the cargo overboard and try to row to land while Jonah sleeps below. They cast him into the sea, the storm stops, and a great fish swallows him.
The vessel A merchant ship with a shipmaster, mariners, cargo and oars, “like to be broken” (1:4, KJV).
Sources Bible Gateway
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · Hebrew Bible
Solomon's Fleet at Ezion-geber Fleet
1 Kings 9:26 to 28; 10:11 to 12
Tradition Hebrew Bible
Solomon builds a navy at Ezion-geber on the shore of the Red Sea. Hiram of Tyre sends experienced seamen to sail with Solomon's men. They reach Ophir and bring back 420 talents of gold, and later almug trees and precious stones.
The vessel A navy of ships crewed jointly, Hiram's men being “shipmen that had knowledge of the sea” (9:27, KJV).
Sources 1 Kings 9 · 1 Kings 10
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · Hebrew Bible
The Ships of Tarshish Fleet
1 Kings 10:22
Tradition Hebrew Bible
Solomon keeps a navy of Tharshish at sea with the navy of Hiram. Once in three years it returns with exotic cargo for the king.
The vessel No construction given, only the cargo: “gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks” (KJV).
Sources 1 Kings 10
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · Hebrew Bible
Jehoshaphat's Wrecked Ships Fleet
1 Kings 22:48 to 49 (22:49 to 50 in Hebrew numbering)
Tradition Hebrew Bible
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, builds ships of Tharshish to fetch gold from Ophir, but they never sail. When Ahaziah offers to send his own servants with them, Jehoshaphat refuses.
The vessel “Ships of Tharshish”; “the ships were broken at Ezion-geber” (22:48, KJV).
Sources 1 Kings 22
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · Hebrew Bible
Tyre, the Merchant Ship Symbolic ship
Ezekiel 27
Tradition Hebrew Bible
Ezekiel laments the city of Tyre as a splendid trading ship of perfect beauty. Her rowers bring her into great waters, the east wind breaks her, and her cargo and crew sink while the mariners of other ships mourn on the shore.
The vessel Planks of fir trees of Senir, masts of cedar from Lebanon, oars of oak from Bashan, benches of ivory, a sail of Egyptian “fine linen with broidered work” (27:7, KJV), awnings of blue and purple from Elishah; mariners from Zidon and Arvad, caulkers from Gebal.
Sources Ezekiel 27
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · Hebrew Bible
They That Go Down to the Sea Voyaging ship
Psalm 107:23 to 30
Tradition Hebrew Bible
Merchants who “go down to the sea in ships” are tossed by a stormy wind until they are at their wits' end. They cry to the Lord, who makes the storm a calm and brings them to their desired haven.
The vessel Ships in general, used by those who do business in great waters.
Sources Psalm 107
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · Deuterocanonical
The Boats of Joppa Boat
2 Maccabees 12:3 to 6
Tradition Deuterocanonical
The people of Joppa invite the Jews living among them into boats with their wives and children, then drown at least two hundred of them. Judas attacks by night, burns the haven and sets the boats on fire.
The vessel Only “boats” at Joppa's haven (12:3, KJV Apocrypha).
Sources sacred-texts.com
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · New Testament
Simon's Boat and the Great Catch Boat
Luke 5:1 to 11
Tradition New Testament
Jesus teaches the crowd from Simon's ship on the lake of Gennesaret, then tells him to let down the nets. After a fruitless night the catch breaks the net and fills both ships, and Simon, James and John leave everything to follow him.
The vessel Two fishing ships worked with nets by partners; laden with the catch they “began to sink” (5:7, KJV).
Sources Luke 5
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · New Testament
The Storm Stilled Boat
Mark 4:35 to 41
Tradition New Testament
Crossing the sea at evening, with other little ships alongside, the boat fills in a great storm while Jesus sleeps. Woken, he rebukes the wind and says to the sea “Peace, be still”, and there is a great calm.
The vessel A boat with a hinder part, where Jesus lies “asleep on a pillow” (4:38, KJV); the waves beat in “so that it was now full” (4:37).
Sources Mark 4
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · New Testament
Walking on the Water Boat
Matthew 14:22 to 33
Tradition New Testament
In the fourth watch of the night Jesus comes to the disciples' ship walking on the sea. Peter steps out and walks on the water, begins to sink when he sees the wind, and is caught. When they climb into the ship the wind ceases.
The vessel A ship “in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves” (14:24, KJV).
Sources Matthew 14
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · New Testament
The Net of 153 Fish Boat
John 21:1 to 11
Tradition New Testament
Seven disciples fish all night on the sea of Tiberias and catch nothing. At dawn a figure on the shore tells them to cast on the right side, and they cannot haul the net for the fish. It is drawn to land holding 153 great fish and does not break.
The vessel A fishing ship, and “a little ship” in which the others come about two hundred cubits to land (21:8, KJV).
Sources John 21
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · New Testament
Paul's Shipwreck Voyaging ship
Acts 27:1 to 28:1
Tradition New Testament
Paul sails for Italy as a prisoner. The wind Euroclydon drives the ship for many days; the crew cast out the tackling and the wheat. They run aground where two seas meet and all reach land safely on Melita (Malta).
The vessel An Alexandrian grain ship with “two hundred threescore and sixteen souls” (27:37, KJV), a small boat, undergirding helps, four anchors from the stern, rudder bands and a mainsail. The forepart sticks fast and the hinder part breaks up.
Sources Acts 27
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · New Testament
The Ship of the Twin Brothers Voyaging ship
Acts 28:11 to 13
Tradition New Testament
After three months on Melita, Paul departs in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, by Syracuse and Rhegium to Puteoli.
The vessel A ship of Alexandria “whose sign was Castor and Pollux” (28:11, KJV), a figurehead of the Twin Brothers.
Sources Acts 28
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Ships of the Bible · New Testament
The Mariners Mourning Babylon Fleet
Revelation 18:17 to 19
Tradition New Testament
As Babylon burns, every shipmaster, sailor and sea trader stands afar off, casts dust on their heads and laments the city through which all who had ships grew rich.
The vessel No single ship, only “all the company in ships” (18:17, KJV).
Sources Revelation 18
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.