The Greek bounos refers to a hill or mound — a natural elevation smaller than a mountain. It appears in both ordinary geographical descriptions and in the elevated language of eschatological prophecy.
Bounos appears twice in Luke's Gospel, both in prophetic contexts. Luke 3:5 (quoting Isaiah 40:4) declares that 'every mountain and hill (bounos) shall be made low' — a prophecy of the leveling of obstacles before the Lord's coming. In Luke 23:30, as Jesus carries His cross, He quotes Hosea 10:8: 'Fall on us, O mountains! Cover us, O hills (bounoi)!' — a cry of desperate judgment used to describe the terror of the last day. Bounos thus appears at both the announcement of Jesus' coming and the announcement of coming judgment, framing His entire ministry in eschatological terms.