Beulah (land)


Beulah means "married" and is applied to the land the Israelites will obtain.
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 Isaiah 62:4. In Biblical Hebrew, Beulah means "married", and is applied to the land that the people of Israel will marry:


Hephzibah means "my delight is in her". Beulah has also been translated as "inhabited", for example by Rashi.
All later references to the land of Beulah are derivative of this one mention in the Bible.

''Pilgrim's Progress''

In the Christian allegory Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, 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, the city on a hill.

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 and music by John R. Sweney. First line: "I've reached the land of corn and wine". In this hymn, several themes from The Pilgrim's Progress are developed. The song talks about today's Christian life as one that border 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:
  • 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 and other groups. First line: "I am dwelling on the mountain".
  • I Have Entered Beulah Land, 1886, words by Fanny Crosby, 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. First line: "I'm kind of homesick for a country".

    Other songs

Blues musician Mississippi John Hurt 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 recorded a song called "Beulah Land" on his album The Picnic Sessions. First line: "Riders of the purple sage".
Alternative piano artist Tori Amos wrote a song also entitled "Beulah Land", which was a B-side on her 1998 album From the Choirgirl Hotel. Dennis brown mentions it in the song deliverance the destiny beulaland instead of Babylon

Mentions in music

Composer Charles Ives used the 1876 hymn tune "Beulah Land" in his String Quartet No. 1, entitled "Salvation Army", and the second movement of his 4th Symphony.
In the final moments of the opera The Ballad of Baby Doe, by Douglas Moore, the title character, referring to her husband, sings "In the circle of his arms I am safe in Beulah Land."
The Tom Waits song, "Take Care Of All My Children," includes the line "I'll be goin' up to Beulah Land."
The Vigilantes of Love 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 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, honored it as the "Best Local Album" at the 2010 Jammie Awards.
Mahalia Jackson says that she will go “out sightseeing in Beulah” in her 1947 Gospel hit “I Will Move On Up A Little Higher”.

Books