According to legend, the author often went past a "green hill" when walking from her home to Derry, and she might have associated this with the distant – both physically and temporally – location of the Crucifixion.

Hebrews 9:22, Ephesians 1:6–7), through which Man is made good (2 Cor 5:17), framing this as the gateway to Heaven, an imagery continued in the fourth stanza.

[9] The concluding line is a clear call to the Biblical instruction to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5).

It was first published as a four-part setting with figured bass in collection Twenty Four Psalm Tunes and Eight Chants (London: Addison & Hodson, 1844).

In the United States, the hymn is also frequently sung to the tune "Green Hill" by gospel composer George C. Stebbins.

[3] In mostly step-wise melodic motion, it features a slow harmonic rhythm which eventually leads to a summit in the final line.

[10] Another alternative is "Meditation" by John H. Gower, published in An Evening Service Book for Evensong, Missions, Sunday Schools, Family Prayer, etc.