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". The context is the Babylonian captivity, in which the land of Israel became holy to the Jews, their land, to which they must return. 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 (1678) 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. "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 [dove] 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. 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."

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 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, 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”.

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