Hush, Little Baby (Isaiah 60)

When I was a child, my mom would soothe and comfort me by singing to me the song, “Hush Little Baby.”  Or maybe, since I can’t actually recall what her singing voice sounds like, she just played the Peter, Paul and Mary 8-track that had the song on it.  (Hey, it won a grammy in 1970; one could do worse, I’m sure.)

I’m sure you know the song.  And I’m sure you’ll sing it with me:

Hush little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird don’t sing, Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama’s gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke, Mama’s gonna buy you a billy goat.

And if that billy goat won’t pull, Mama’s gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull fall down, you’ll still be the cutest little baby around.

There are other versions of this song.  I seem to recall a dog named Rover in there somewhere…which makes me wonder:  what if I were to use all the skills I learned in seminary, and in workshops and conferences since, and applied them to the study and interpretation of this song?  Because when I read scripture, there are often annotations that note that, in some ancient manuscripts, different words or phrases appear.  Mark’s gospel, for example, has several different endings – whole paragraphs that some ancient manuscripts have and others do not – and one of the things interpreters of scripture do is try to figure out which of the endings is part of the original version of the gospel.

There are many other issues of interpretation to consider, and doing that with scripture is a big undertaking, so let’s start with something simple.  Let’s start with “Hush, Little Baby.”

Perhaps I would start by questioning whether or not this song is meant to be taken literally or not. 

I do have my doubts. 

When I interpret scripture, two of the tools I use are reason and experience, so I’ll do the same here.  Reason and experience tell me that giving a child a mockingbird, a billy goat, or a cart and bull, will probably do nothing to soothe and calm that upset child. 

Now, some folks don’t believe that reason and experience should be used when interpreting ancient texts.  I sure hope their children and the bulls they give them can get along. 

Something that would be helpful would be to examine the historical context of this song.  I am always reading what scholars have to say about the historical context of various scripture passages, and find it quite helpful.  So what if I did the same for “Hush Little Baby?”

Among the things I would learn would be that this song is anonymous.  There is no record of who wrote it or where they wrote it.  The same is true for half of the New Testament letters that we often think of as having been written by the apostle Paul.  Probably they were written by someone other than Paul, but we don’t know exactly who.

What we can say is that, since mockingbirds come from North America, it is likely that this is an early American folk tune.  It makes sense, right? Although some sources say that it comes from an earlier English nursery rhyme.

None of that is very specific.  And, unfortunately, even though studying the historical context is often helpful in determining the meaning of a given scripture passage, I’m afraid it’s not very helpful in this case.

What do other people say about this song’s meaning?

Peter Yarrow, in his note about “Hush, Little Baby” in his book, Sleepytime Songs, suggests that the appeal of this song is the deep sense of comfort in knowing that no matter what happens, no matter what goes wrong, the child will be loved and cared for.

As a child, when I heard this song, that is exactly what I felt.  Never did I expect my mother to hand me a mockingbird, or a diamond ring, or a billy goat.  Even at three or four or five years old, I understood that the comfort I got from this song came not from its literal meaning, which rightfully should have scared me to death.  (I can think of a lot of scripture passages that, were I to take them literally, would also scare me to death.)

Even at three or four or five years old, I understood that this song was a metaphor, a parable, even if at the time I couldn’t have labeled it as such.  I understood that the truth of this song came not from knowing that I would soon be receiving all the things it mentions.  The truth of this song came from knowing that, no matter what happens, no matter what goes wrong, I would be loved and cared for.

So, is this song true?  Of course it is true.  Does it have meaning that is relevant today?  Of course it does.  It is very true and very meaningful.

Now, perhaps you are wondering what led me to spend all this time and effort researching “Hush, Little Baby” and to share with you what I learned.  Actually, it was our scripture for today: Isaiah 60.

At first, Isaiah 60 seems innocuous enough.  In fact, it’s downright pleasant:  “Arise!  Shine!  Your light has come; the LORD’s glory has shone upon you.”  Clearly, this is a positive chapter in Isaiah, a song of blessing, in fact.  But the blessings quickly begin to sound a little far-fetched…

“Your heart will tremble and open wide, because the sea’s abundance will be turned over to you; the wealth of all the nations will come to you.  Countless camels will cover your land..., carrying gold and incense.”

I guess the reference to light and gold and incense is why this scripture is a part of the lectionary for today, Epiphany, the day of the magi.  But the blessings are only beginning.  The lectionary stops at verse 6, but there are many more blessings to come in verses 7 and beyond…

“All the sheep from Kedar (a place that is apparently known for its sheep) will be gathered for you; all the rams from Nebaioth will be for you.  People from foreign lands will flock here to rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you!  All the wealth of all the nations will be brought to you, and their kings will lead the procession!  All your bronze will be traded in for gold; all your iron will be silver; all your wood will be bronze; and all your stones will be iron.  You will be governed by peace itself, and ruled by righteousness…

“The sun will never set; you will never be in darkness.”

…And if that sun refuses to shine, God will give you a sea of brine.  And if that sea of brine is too cold, God will give you incense and gold.  And if that incense and gold’s used for enamel, God’s gonna give you a million camels.  And if the mouths of those camels do froth, God’s gonna give you all the rams from Nebaioth….

Yes.  Let’s now go through the same process we went through with “Hush, Little Baby.”  Let’s use the same tools of interpretation for Isaiah 60. 

First of all, I think we can safely say that this is not to be interpreted literally.  Will foreign kings from all the nations really come and give all their gold?  Will all bronze become gold and all stones become iron?  Will the sun really never set, and never cast you into darkness?

Of course not.

So, what did Isaiah mean when he wrote this?

Oh, but wait; Isaiah didn’t write this.  The book that we know as Isaiah, scholars recognize as actually being two or three different books, written by different people, that have been combined into one.  It does appear that a prophet known as Isaiah wrote the first 39 chapters, and he wrote it in the years leading up to the Babylonian conquest of Israel, the years leading up to Israel’s captivity.  The first 39 chapters warn of the conquest that has arrived.

But in chapter 40, things change suddenly.  The entire tone changes.  “Comfort, comfort ye my people!  Speak compassionately, tenderly, to Jerusalem; tell her that her captivity has ended, her penalty has been paid.”  Words of comfort at the end of captivity.  This is a very different time than that of chapters 1-39, and, most likely, a very different author as well.

The theme of the restoration of Israel after its time of captivity continues in chapter 60.  You see, the time of captivity was devastating for Israel.  It was devastating emotionally and spiritually.  The people’s identity was lost.  They could only mourn.

Psalm 137 was written during this time:  “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, and there we wept, when we remembered our home in Zion.  We hung up our harps in the trees there, because that’s where our captors asked us to sing.  ‘Sing us a song of Zion!’ they said.  But how could we possibly sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”

It was a time of despair and lost hope.

Isaiah 60 is indeed a song of great blessing, because the people who had been taken away from their homeland are now able to return.  But even with this release from captivity, some had lost so much hope that they didn’t care or didn’t believe, and some no longer had the will or desire to return. 

Isaiah 60 is the comfort and encouragement they needed.

“Everything you’ve lost will be returned to you.  The kings who took your wealth will bring it to you.  The people who destroyed your walls will rebuild them.  The gold you lost, forcing you to settle for bronze, will be changed back to gold.  The iron that was taken from you, so that you had to settle for stone, will be changed back to iron.”

Is this all literally true?  I don’t know, and I don’t think it really matters.  What matters is that it was the comfort and encouragement that was needed.  It was the reassurance that no matter what happens, no matter all that has gone wrong, you are loved and cared for by a God who knows your suffering.

Comparing “Hush, Little Baby” with Isaiah 60 has helped me in another way.  It has helped me realize how important it is to receive comfort and reassurance when times are tough.  Everyone has times in their lives when they need to be soothed, reassured, and comforted.  Everyone has times when they need to hear those words of kindness, those words of love. 

Think of a time when you were really down, and a friend or family member comforted and encouraged you.  They told you things would get better.  Perhaps they promised you the world.  Perhaps they promised you all kinds of ridiculous things that you can’t even remember … and yet you do remember how they made you feel better, how they comforted you, how they reassured you that you were loved.

I know that there have been times when I have been stressed, worried, and anxious, and someone came along and said to me, “there, there; it will be fine.  Everything is going to turn out wonderfully.”  They had no evidence of this, and logically, what they said didn’t even make sense; about as much sense as promising a baby a bull and cart; about as much sense as promising a people in captivity that soon, the kings who held them captive would turn around and begin serving them.

It was clear to me and to them that their words made no sense.  And yet, they provided comfort.

I also know that, for me in particular, I am sometimes too quick to give advice.  There is a time for advice, a time when advice is helpful, but there is also a time for comfort, a time to just let someone know that you are there with them.  A time to sing a soothing song of reassurance.

God knows this.  God knows what you are going through.  God also knows that our fears and anxieties are often out of proportion to the reality of our situation.  So sometimes, what we get from God are these gentle words of reassurance, these gentle words of comfort.   

Because God knows that sometimes, all we need is a little love and kindness to get us through.