Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
) Heb. gib’eah, a curved or rounded hill, such as are common to Palestine (Ps. 65:12; 72:3; 114:4, 6). ) 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. ) Heb. ma’aleh in 1 Sam. 9:11. ) In Luke 9:37 the “hill” is the Mount of Transfiguration.
Schaff's Bible Dictionary
HILL, HILLS. 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.