# Bob Marley

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-marley/112000>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 2, 2002, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-marley/112000 "2002-06-02T08:03:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![A1C\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@A1C\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A1C_Joe)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-marley/112000/1 "2002-06-02T08:03:57Z")

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In Bob Marley’s song, “Exodus”, the lyrics go:

“Exodus, movement for Ja People.”

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**Author:** ![A1C\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@A1C\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A1C_Joe)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-marley/112000/2 "2002-06-02T08:06:21Z")

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Who are Ja People and what is Ja?

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**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-marley/112000/3 "2002-06-02T13:49:28Z")

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**Ja** -maica … I’m guessing.

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**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-marley/112000/4 "2002-06-02T16:50:32Z")

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‘Jah’ is Jehovah. Quite a few Jamaicans are Rastafarians, a sort of Christian-influenced religion that says Haile Selassie, former emperor of Ethiopia, is God, and that marijuana is a sacrament. At least they’re cheerful about it!

See, for example, [http://www.aspects.net/~nick/religion.htm](http://www.aspects.net/~nick/religion.htm)

Jah love, mon!

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**Author:** ![Efrem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@Efrem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Efrem)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-marley/112000/5 "2002-06-02T19:23:55Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by rjk \*  
> \*\*‘Jah’ is Jehovah. Quite a few Jamaicans are Rastafarians, a sort of Christian-influenced religion that says Haile Selassie, former emperor of Ethiopia, is God, and that marijuana is a sacrament. At least they’re cheerful about it!
> 
> See, for example, [http://www.aspects.net/~nick/religion.htm](http://www.aspects.net/~nick/religion.htm)
> 
> Jah love, mon! \*\*

Don’t get me started about Rasta’s

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-marley/112000/6 "2002-06-03T04:16:05Z")

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Bob recorded “Jah Live” as a response to news of Haile Selassie’s death. Then there was a song of his that went “We’ll Be Forever Loving Jah.” Another such religious tune was “Let Jah Be Praised” by Peter Tosh.