Beulah is a land referred to in the Biblical
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...
. It is the land of the Jewish people, the Israelites, to which they must return: an earthly paradise.
The land of Beulah is referred to in various hymns and other works.
Bible
The only known ancient reference to a land called Beulah is in the
book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...
,
62:4. In
Biblical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...
Beulah means "married", and is applied to the land that the people of Israel will marry:
:... but thou shalt be called Hephzibah,
:and thy land Beulah;
: for the LORD delighteth in thee,
: and thy land shall be married.
: For as a young man marrieth a virgin... (King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
)
Hephzibah means "my delight is in her".
The context is the
Babylonian Exile
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defeat ...
, in which the land of Israel became holy to the Jews, ''their'' land to which they must return.
There is no reference to a hill in this chapter of Isaiah.
All later references to the land of Beulah are derivative of this one mention in the Bible.
''Pilgrim's Progress''
![The Land Of Beulah by H](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/The_Land_Of_Beulah_by_H._Melville_-_Medium_Quality.jpg)
In the Christian allegory '
Pilgrim's Progress
''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of ...
'' (1678) by
John Bunyan
John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...
, Beulah Land is a place of peace near the end of the Christian life, on the border of the Celestial City. The
River of Death separates Beulah from the
New Jerusalem
In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the c ...
, the
city on a hill.
Now I saw in my dream, that by this time the pilgrims were got over the Enchanted Ground, and entering into the country of Beulah, whose air was very sweet and pleasant, the way lying directly through it, they solaced themselves there for a season. Yea, here they heard continually the singing of birds, and saw every day the flowers appear in the earth, and heard the voice of the turtle ove
Ove or OVE may refer to
* Ove (given name)
* Ové, a surname
* Ove Peak in Antarctica
*'' A Man Called Ove (novel)'', a novel by Fredrik Backman
*'' A Man Called Ove'', a 2015 Swedish film based on the novel
* Danish Organisation for Renewable Ener ...
in the land. In this country the sun shineth night and day: wherefore this was beyond the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and also out of the reach of Giant Despair; neither could they from this place so much as see Doubting Castle. Here they were within sight of the city they were going to...
Music
Hymns
There are several relatively well-known hymns on the land of Beulah, whose similar titles can lead to confusion.
* ''Beulah Land'', 1876, lyrics by Edgar Page Stites (1836–1921) and music by
John R. Sweney. First line: "I've reached the land of corn
rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
and wine". In this hymn, several themes from ''The Pilgrim's Progress'' are developed. The song talks about the Christian life today as one that borders heaven and from where one can almost see heaven. It speaks of a place of victory and fellowship with God.
[
:Stites explained the hymn's origins:
:]It was in 1876 that I wrote "Beulah Land". I could write only two verses and the chorus, when I was overcome and fell on my face. That was one Sunday. On the following Sunday I wrote the third and fourth verses, and again I was so influenced by emotion that I could only pray and weep. The first time it was sung was at the regular Monday morning meeting of Methodists in Philadelphia. Bishop McCabe sang it to the assembled ministers. Since then it is known wherever religious people congregate. I have never received a cent for my songs. Perhaps that is why they have had such a wide popularity. I could not do work for the Master and receive pay for it.
* ''Is Not This the Land of Beulah?'', 1882, lyrics by either Harriet W. R. Qua or William Hunter, music by John W. Dadmun, recorded by The Isaacs
The Isaacs are a bluegrass Southern gospel music group consisting of mother Lily Isaacs (b. September 20, 1947), daughters Becky (b. Aug. 2, 1975) and Sonya Isaacs (b. July 22, 1974) and son Ben Isaacs (b. July 25, 1972), along with John Bowman (h ...
and other groups. First line: "I am dwelling on the mountain".
:There is some uncertainty about the origins of "Is Not This the Land of Beulah." Public domain records show it attributed to William Hunter, somewhere before 1884, yet other records credit William B. Bradbury with the modern arrangement being attributed to John W. Dadman in 1911.
* ''I Have Entered Beulah Land'', 1886, words by Fanny Crosby
Frances Jane van Alstyne (née Crosby; March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915), more commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns ...
, music by John Robson Sweney. First line: "Oh my cup is overflowing".
* ''The Sweet Beulah Land'', 1891, words by Rev. H. J. Zelley, music by H. L. Gilmour. First line: "I am walking today in the sweet Beulah land".
* '' Dwelling in Beulah Land'', 1911, by Charles Austen Miles. First line: "Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling".
* ''Sweet Beulah Land'', 1979, by Squire Parsons
Squire Enos Parsons Jr. (born April 4, 1948), is a Southern Gospel singer and songwriter. He was born in Newton, West Virginia, to Squire and Maysel Parsons, and was introduced to music by his father, who was a choir director and deacon at New ...
(1948–). First line: "I'm kind of homesick for a country".
Other songs
Blues musician Mississippi John Hurt
John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist.
Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself to play the guitar around the age of nine. He wo ...
recorded a song for the Library of Congress in 1963, which was entitled "Beulah Land." First line: "I've got a mother in Beulah land".
UK Blues musician Ian Siegal
Ian Siegal (born 1971) is a British blues singer and guitarist.
Biography
Ian Siegal is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader and recording artist whose music encompasses Blues and Americana. Born near Portsmouth in England, he dropped ...
recorded a song called "Beulah Land" on his album ''The Picnic Sessions''. First line: "Riders of the purple sage".
Alternative piano artist Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
wrote a song also entitled "Beulah Land", which was a B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
on her 1998 album From the Choirgirl Hotel
''From the Choirgirl Hotel'' is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos, released on May 5, 1998. A departure from her previous albums, it was more a heavily produced project featuring elements of electronic music and ...
.
Mentions in music
Composer Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...
used the hymn tune "Beulah Land" in his "String Quartet No.1" (1896), entitled "Salvation Army", and the second movement of his 4th Symphony.
In the final moments of the opera The Ballad of Baby Doe
''The Ballad of Baby Doe'' is an opera by the American composer Douglas Moore that uses an English-language libretto by John Latouche. It is Moore's most famous opera and one of the few American operas to be in the standard repertory. Especially ...
, by Douglas Moore
Douglas Stuart Moore (August 10, 1893 – July 25, 1969) was an American composer, songwriter, organist, pianist, conductor, educator, actor, and author. A composer who mainly wrote works with an American subject, his music is generally charact ...
, the title character, referring to her husband, sings "In the circle of his arms I am safe in Beulah Land."
The Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
song, "Take Care Of All My Children," includes the line "I'll be goin' up to Beulah Land."
The Vigilantes of Love
Vigilantes of Love is an American rock band fronted by Bill Mallonee, with many secondary players drawn from the musician pool in and around Athens, Georgia, United States. In its later manifestations in the later 1990s and early 2000s, Mallone ...
song "Earth Has No Sorrow" from the album ''Killing Floor'', includes the line "I hear angels 'cross that river in Beulah land".
Songwriter Drew Nelson won international acclaim with the 2009 album "Dusty Road to Beulah Land", produced by Michael Crittenden of Mackinaw Harvest Music. The album has been described as "a love song to the state of Michigan." Local community radio station WYCE
WYCE (88.1 FM) is an American community radio station, broadcasting a noncommercial, Triple A format. The station's music is programmed by volunteers, drawing from a diverse library of eclectic music, primarily folk, rock, blues, worldbeat and ...
in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...
, honored it as the "Best Local Album" at the 2010 Jammie Awards.
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to t ...
says that she will go “out sightseeing in Beulah” in her 1947 Gospel hit “I Will Move On Up A Little Higher”.
Books
* Modern author Krista McGruder, a native of the Ozarks
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
, entitled her 2003 collection of short stories "Beulah Land". The final story in the collection is also titled "Beulah Land".
*Mary Lee Settle
Mary Lee Settle (July 29, 1918 – September 27, 2005) was an American writer.
She won the 1978 National Book Award for her novel '' Blood Tie''.''Blood_Tie''(1977)._This_novel,_which_received_the_National_Book_Award_in_1978,_deals_with_America ...
, National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
winner for '' Blood Ties'', 1978, wrote a series of novels called the Beulah Land Quintet, beginning in 1956 with ''O Beulah Land''.
*Oregonian novelist H. L. Davis
Harold Lenoir Davis (October 18, 1894 – October 31, 1960), also known as H. L. Davis, was an American novelist and poet. A native of Oregon, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel '' Honey in the Horn'', the only Pulitzer Prize for Lite ...
, best known for his 1935 Pulitzer Prize–winning ''Honey in the Horn
''Honey in the Horn'' is a 1935 debut novel by Harold L. Davis. The novel received the Harper Prize for best first novel of 1935 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1936. The title of the book is from a line in a square dancing tune, ...
'', wrote a 1949 novel called ''Beulah Land'' about the travails and westward travels of a Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
family from the Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...
. A coffee shop and bar called Beulahland (one word) in Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, is possibly named after Davis' novel.
*''Sweet Beulah Land'' is a 1999 novel by North Carolina writer Bernice Kelly Harris.
*''Fire in Beulah'' is a 2001 novel by Rilla Askew
Rilla Askew (born 1951) is an American novelist and short story writer who was born in Poteau, in the Sans Bois Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma, and grew up in the town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Early life and education
Askew graduated f ...
.
*In Jane Eyre
''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
, Chapter XV, the title character, having saved Mr. Rochester from the fire in his bedroom, returns to her own bed but does not go to sleep. “Till morning dawned I was tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea, where billows of trouble rolled under surges of joy. I thought sometimes I saw beyond its wild waters a shore, sweet as the hills of Beulah; and now and then a freshening gale, wakened by hope, bore my spirit triumphantly towards the bourne: but I could not reach it, even in fancy ….”
*In ''Samantha at Saratoga'' by Marietta Holley
Marietta Holley (pen names, Jemyma, later, Josiah Allen's Wife; July 16, 1836 – March 1, 1926), was an American humorist who used satire to comment on U.S. society and politics. Holley enjoyed a prolific writing career and was a bestselling au ...
, Beulah is compared with Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...
by Josiah Allen and Samantha.
Places
*Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
immigrants founded Beulah, Pennsylvania, in 1796. It is today a ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
(see Ghost Town Trail
The Ghost Town Trail is a rail trail in Western Pennsylvania that runs between Black Lick, Indiana County, and Ebensburg, Cambria County. Established in 1991 on the right-of-way of the former Ebensburg and Black Lick Railroad, the trail foll ...
).
* Beulah Land Baptist Church is in Yazoo City, Mississippi
Yazoo City is a U.S. city in Yazoo County, Mississippi. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's m ...
.
* Beulahland, Virginia, is an unincorporated community in King and Queen County, Virginia
King and Queen County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia, located in the state's Middle Peninsula on the eastern edge of the Richmond, VA metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,608. Its county seat is King and Qu ...
.
See also
*Zion
Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole (see Names ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Camp meeting origin
American Christian hymns
1870s songs
Book of Isaiah
19th-century hymns