hill Summary and Overview

(1.) Heb. gib'eah, a curved or rounded hill, such as are common to Israel (Ps. 65:12; 72:3; 114:4, 6). (2.) Heb. har, properly a mountain range rather than an individual eminence (Ex. 24:4, 12, 13, 18; Num. 14:40, 44, 45). In Deut. 1:7, Josh. 9:1; 10:40; 11:16, it denotes the elevated district of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim, which forms the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. (3.) Heb. ma'aleh in 1 Sam. 9:11. Authorized Version "hill" is correctly rendered in the Revised Version "ascent." (4.) In Luke 9:37 the "hill" is the Mount of Transfiguration.

HILL , HILLS. There is some confusion in the use of "hill" and "mountain" in the A.V. Thus the "hill country" of Luke 1:39 is the "mountain of Judah," Josh 20:7. Again, precisely the same elevation is called both mountain and hill, Luke 9:28; cf. 1 Chr 9:37. But the original text is exact, employing words of quite different meaning to express the different elevations of hills and mountains. See Palestine, Mountain.

Hebrew gibeah, "a carved, rounded hill"; frequent in the Holy Land. Har, mistranslated "hill;" it means a" mountain range or district" (Exodus 24:4; Exodus 24:12-13; Exodus 24:18; Numbers 14:40; Numbers 14:44-45). The "hill" in Joshua 15:9, compare 8, is the Mount of Olives. "The hills," Deuteronomy 1:7; Joshua 9:1, is the mountain district of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim (Numbers 13:29). The "holy hill," "hill of Jehovah," etc., Psalm 3:4; Psalm 24:3, is mount Zion. Carmel should be called the mount, not "a hill" (2 Kings 1:9; 2 Kings 4:27; compare 1 Kings 18:19). Maleh should be "ascent," not "hill" (1 Samuel 9:11, margin). In Luke 9:28; Luke 9:37, "the hill" (oros) is the mountain of transfiguration. In Luke 1:39 "the hill country" ought to be translated "the mountain country" of Judah.