Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish— Which, according to Josephus, was Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia. Others say Tartessus in Spain. From the presence of the Lord, Houbigant reads, Through fear of the Lord. What he feared is shewn in chap. Jonah 4:2. He hoped that if he was at a greater distance God would send some other prophet to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Grotius says, that the expression means, "From the land of Israel," the immediate residence of God.
Related Commentaries of Jonah 1:3
Jonah 1:3
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.