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 F. Alexander (1818–1895)

Words: Ce­cil F. Al­ex­an­der, 1847.

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

Alternate Tunes:

illustration
Crucifixion
William Brassey Hole (1846–1917)

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