And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
And upon all the ships of Tarshish - Tartessus, in southwest Spain, at the mouth of the Guadalquiver, near Gibraltar. It includes the adjoining region. It was a Phoenician colony: hence, its connection with Palestine and the Bible (2 Chronicles 9:21). The name was also used in a wide sense for the farthest west, as our West Indies (Isaiah 66:19; Psalms 48:7; Psalms 72:10). "Ships of Tanhish" became a phrase for richly-laden and far-voyaging vessels. So our 'East Indiamen.' The judgment shall be on all that minister to man's luxury (cf. Revelation 18:17-19).
And upon all pleasant pictures - ordered to be destroyed (Numbers 33:52), because connected with idolatry. Still to be seen on the walls of Nineveh's palaces. It is remarkable that whereas all other ancient civilized nations-Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome-have left monuments in the fine arts, Judea, while rising immeasurably above them in the possession of 'the living oracles,' has left none of the former. The fine arts, as in modern Rome, were so often associated with polytheism, that God required His people in this, as in other respects, to be separate from the nations (Deuteronomy 4:15-18). But the Vulgate translation [shªkiyowt] is perhaps better, 'all that is beautiful to the sight;' not only paintings, but all elaborately-worked ornaments. One comprehensive word (from a Hebrew root, saakah, or sekah, to look at) for all that goes before (cf. Revelation 18:12; Revelation 18:14; Revelation 18:16).