Beulah

Biblical Text

Beulah appears only once in Scripture, in Isaiah 62:4. The verse belongs to chapter 62, which celebrates the restoration of Zion and Jerusalem. God declares that Zion, formerly called "Forsaken," will be called "Hephzibah" ("my delight is in her"), and that the land, formerly called "Desolate," will be called Beulah: "thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah" (Isaiah 62:4). The reason given is that the LORD delights in her and that the land will be as one married. Verse 5 compares this relationship to a bridegroom rejoicing over his bride.

Meaning and Background of the Word

"Beulah" is a passive participle of the Hebrew verb ba'al ("to marry," "to become a husband") and means "married woman." In the same verse, the name set in contrast to Beulah is "Desolate" (Hebrew shemamah). In ancient Israel, a woman without a husband had lost both protection and a place of belonging. The name "married land" therefore also conveys that a land left abandoned and without an owner once again has someone to care for it. The passage is commonly read against the historical background of the Babylonian exile and the return from exile.

Translations render the word in different ways. The New Korean Revised Version and the King James Version transliterate the Hebrew, while some translations render its meaning instead.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The prophetic books frequently describe the relationship between God and His people in terms of marriage. Isaiah 54:5 calls the Maker "thine husband." Hosea 2:16 contains a wordplay on ba'al, the same root: the people will no longer call God "my Baal" (KJV "Baali") but "my husband" (KJV "Ishi").

The New Testament extends this imagery to the relationship between Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:31–32 applies the mystery of marriage to Christ and the church. Revelation 21:2 describes the New Jerusalem as a bride adorned for her husband. The theme of receiving a new name reappears in Revelation 2:17 and 3:12.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

Jewish tradition reads this passage as a promise of the restoration of the land and people of Israel. Protestant readings also diverge. Covenant theology tends to see the promise as fulfilled in Christ and the church, while dispensationalism tends to see it as referring to a future restoration of national Israel.

Some critical scholars hold that Isaiah 56–66 was composed after the exile. Conservative scholars, by contrast, accept this section as well as prophecy from the prophet Isaiah.

The text itself does not identify Beulah with heaven or with a resting place just short of heaven. That understanding originated with John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, in which the pilgrims rest in "the country of Beulah" before crossing the river of death. The image spread widely through the nineteenth-century Anglo-American hymn "Beulah Land."

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Beulah is cited in sermons as a word expressing restoration, joy, and an intimate relationship with God. It also appears in the names of some churches, prayer retreat centers, and Christian organizations. In worship songs and testimonies, under the influence of The Pilgrim's Progress, it is sometimes used to refer to heaven.