There Is a Green Hill Far Away is a Good Friday hymn written for children by Cecil Frances Alexander and published in 1848 in her Hymns for Little Children, to explain the line of the Apostles' Creed that says Jesus was crucified. Without a city wall means outside the city wall, because Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem. The hymn explains the cross simply: Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
Cecil Frances Alexander, an Irish poet and later the wife of an Anglican bishop, wrote a whole book of hymns in 1848 to teach children the Apostles' Creed line by line. For I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth she wrote All Things Bright and Beautiful. For born of the Virgin Mary she wrote Once in Royal David's City. And for suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried she wrote this hymn. Tradition says she pictured a grassy hill outside the old walls of Derry, near her home, and that she wrote some of her children's hymns at the bedside of a sick child; neither story can be confirmed. The hymn's language is so plain that a six-year-old can follow it, yet it states the heart of the gospel. Below are her five stanzas and 12 KJV passages that stand behind them.
There Is a Green Hill Far Away: the words
Verse 1
There is a green hill far away,
Without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.
Verse 2
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.
Verse 3
He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to Heaven,
Saved by His precious Blood.
Verse 4
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin,
He only could unlock the gate
Of Heaven, and let us in.
Verse 5
O, dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming Blood,
And try His works to do.
Words: Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895), Hymns for Little Children (London, 1848), written for the words of the Apostles' Creed suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. Text copied from the first American edition of Hymns for Little Children (Philadelphia, about 1850), pp. 31-32 (Internet Archive scan, the same book used for our Once in Royal David's City page), checked against Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 (1894), which sings the last stanza as a refrain and prints heaven and blood in lower case. The 1850 printing sets Lord in small capitals. Usually sung to HORSLEY (William Horsley, 1844) or GREEN HILL (George C. Stebbins, with a refrain from the last stanza). Public domain.
Without a city wall: where the dear Lord was crucified
1. Hebrews 13:12
"Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate."
Children often think the green hill is a hill without a wall around it. Alexander meant the older sense of without: outside. The hymn's first lines come from this verse: Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. In the law of Moses, the bodies of certain sacrificed animals were burned outside the camp (Hebrews 13:11). Jesus died outside Jerusalem's wall, the place of rejection and shame, so that He could bring outsiders in. The writer goes on: Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach (Hebrews 13:13).
2. John 19:17-18
"And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst."
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. John's account is short and plain, and so is the hymn. Golgotha was just outside the city, near a road where passers-by could see the crucified. We do not know for certain whether it was green; Alexander's word paints a peaceful picture of a place that was anything but peaceful that day. What matters is that it was real: a real hill, outside a real city, where a real man died.
3. Luke 23:33
"And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Calvary comes from the Latin word for skull, calvaria, a translation of the Aramaic Golgotha. Luke adds the detail that Jesus prayed for the soldiers as they nailed Him to the cross: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). That prayer is the hymn's second stanza in action. We may not know, we cannot tell what pains He had to bear, but we know He bore them while asking forgiveness for those who caused them.
4. John 3:14-15
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. In Numbers 21 Israelites dying from snakebite were healed when they looked at a bronze serpent Moses raised on a pole. Jesus says His lifting up on the cross works the same way. The hymn's second stanza asks only that we believe it was for us: But we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there. We cannot fully understand the cross, but we can look to it and live. See our page on John 3:16.
He died that we might be forgiven: saved by His precious blood
5. Ephesians 1:7
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. The third stanza opens, He died that we might be forgiven. Paul links forgiveness directly to the blood of Christ. Forgiveness is not God simply overlooking sin, as if it did not matter. It is a debt paid by the death of His Son. And the measure of forgiveness is not the size of our sins but the riches of His grace, which are always greater. For more on this theme, see our Bible verses about forgiveness.
6. 1 Peter 3:18
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:"
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. This verse is the third stanza in prose. He died that we might be forgiven: once suffered for sins. That we might go at last to Heaven: that he might bring us to God. The just for the unjust is the substitution at the center of the cross: the innocent One died in the place of the guilty. Once means it never needs to be repeated. The work Alexander describes for children is finished and complete.
7. Titus 2:14
"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
He died to make us good. That line surprises some readers, because the gospel says we are saved by grace, not by being good. But Paul explains that Jesus gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Christ does not save us because we are good; He saves us so that we will become good. Forgiveness and change go together. The last stanza of the hymn makes the same point: and try His works to do.
8. Hebrews 9:22
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
Saved by His precious Blood. The Bible speaks often about blood, and children sometimes ask why. The writer of Hebrews explains the Old Testament pattern: without shedding of blood is no remission. Remission means forgiveness, the cancelling of a debt. Every animal sacrifice under the law taught that sin is deadly serious and that forgiveness costs a life. Those sacrifices pointed forward to the one sacrifice that could actually take sin away. For more passages, see our Bible verses about the blood of Jesus.
He only could unlock the gate: love Him and do His works
9. Acts 4:12
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
There was no other good enough, the fourth stanza begins. Peter said it to the same council that had condemned Jesus: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Alexander's line is the reason. No one else was sinless, so no one else could die for the sins of others. Every other person needs a Saviour; only Jesus could be one. The hymn says it gently for children, but it is one of the boldest claims in the New Testament.
10. John 14:6
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
He only could unlock the gate of Heaven, and let us in. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. The picture of a locked gate is simple enough for a child, and true enough for a theologian. Sin shut us out of God's presence. No key we could make would fit. Jesus did not just point to the way in; He is the way in. In John 10:9 He says, I am the door. See also our page on John 14.
11. 1 John 4:19
"We love him, because he first loved us."
We love him, because he first loved us. The last stanza says, O, dearly, dearly has He loved, and we must love Him too. Alexander does not tell children to love God in order to earn His love. She puts His love first. Our love is always a response. When a child (or an adult) understands that Jesus went to the cross out of love for them, love for Him follows naturally. For more on this, see our Bible verses about the love of Jesus.
12. John 14:15
"If ye love me, keep my commandments."
If ye love me, keep my commandments. The hymn closes with two simple duties: trust in His redeeming Blood, and try His works to do. Notice the word try. Alexander does not pretend that children, or anyone, will obey perfectly. But love wants to please the one it loves. Jesus ties love and obedience together in this verse, and the next verse promises the Holy Spirit to help (John 14:16). Faith in the cross and a life of trying to follow Jesus belong together, and that is how the hymn ends.
A short prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for going to that hill outside the city wall and dying for me. I cannot understand all the pain You bore, but I believe it was for me. Thank You that Your precious blood brings forgiveness, and that You alone could open the gate of heaven and let me in. You have loved me dearly; help me to love You too, to trust in what You have done, and to try to do Your works each day. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
What does without a city wall mean?
In older English, without often meant outside. The line means the green hill was outside the city wall of Jerusalem. The Bible says Jesus suffered without the gate (Hebrews 13:12) and was crucified at a place near the city (John 19:20). Alexander was not saying the hill had no wall; she was saying it lay outside the city.
Who wrote There Is a Green Hill Far Away?
Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895), an Irish hymn writer, published it in Hymns for Little Children (1848). The book was written to teach children the Apostles' Creed, and this hymn explains the line was crucified, dead, and buried. She also wrote All Things Bright and Beautiful and Once in Royal David's City.
What Bible verse is There Is a Green Hill Far Away based on?
The first stanza draws on Hebrews 13:12 (Jesus suffered without the gate) and John 19:17-18 (the crucifixion at Golgotha). The third stanza echoes 1 Peter 3:18 and Titus 2:14, the fourth Acts 4:12 and John 14:6, and the fifth 1 John 4:19 and John 14:15.
Is There Is a Green Hill Far Away in the public domain?
Yes. Cecil Frances Alexander published the hymn in 1848, and both common tunes, HORSLEY (1844) and George C. Stebbins' GREEN HILL (1870s), are also old enough to be in the public domain in the United States. The words may be printed, sung and shared freely in churches, schools and homes.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
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