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THERE IS A GREEN HILL FAR AWAY

Scripture Verse

Carrying His own cross, He went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified Him. John 19:17–18

Introduction

portrait
Cecil Alexander
(1818–1895)

Words: Ce­cil F. Al­ex­an­der, 1847.

Music: Green Hill (Steb­bins) George C. Steb­bins, 1878 (🔊 ).

Alternate Tunes:

Origin of the Hymn

Alexander wrote this hymn as she sat up one night with her ser­ious­ly sick daugh­ter. Ma­ny times, tra­vel­ing to town to shop, she had passed a small grassy mound, just out­side the old ci­ty wall of Der­ry, Ire­land. It al­ways made her think of Cal­va­ry, and it came to mind as she wrote this hymn. She pub­lished it in her Hymns for Lit­tle Child­ren in 1848.


While hold­ing meet­ings with Mr. Moo­dy, at Car­diff, Wales, in 1883, I vis­it­ed the ru­ins of Tin­tern Ab­bey with Pro­fess­or Drum­mond. While there I sang this song, which the pro­fess­or said to me was one of the fin­est hymns in the En­glish lang­uage. A num­ber of years later I sang it on the green hill believed to be Cal­va­ry, out­side the walls of Je­ru­sa­lem.

Sankey, pp. 283–84

Lyrics

There is a green hill far away,
Outside a ci­ty wall,
Where the dear Lord was cru­ci­fied,
Who died to save us all.

Refrain

O dear­ly, dear­ly, has He loved,
And we must love Him, too,
And trust in His re­deem­ing blood,
And try His works to do.

We may not know, we can­not tell,
What pains He had to bear;
But we be­lieve it was for us
He hung and suf­fered there.

Refrain

He died that we might be for­giv’n,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to Heav’n,
Saved by His pre­cious blood.

Refrain

There was no oth­er good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He on­ly could un­lock the gate
Of Heav­en and let us in.

Refrain

O dear­ly, dear­ly has He loved,
And we must love Him, too,
And trust in His re­deem­ing blood,
And try His works to do.

Refrain

illustration
Crucifixion
William Brassey Hole (1846–1917)