Topical Encyclopedia
Introduction:Kidron, also spelled as Cedron, is a significant geographical and historical location mentioned in the Bible. It is primarily known as the Kidron Valley, a ravine that lies to the east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. The valley holds considerable biblical importance due to its frequent mention in both the Old and New Testaments.
Biblical References:1.
Old Testament:·
2 Samuel 15:23: The Kidron Valley is first mentioned in the context of King David's flight from Jerusalem during Absalom's rebellion. "Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness."
·
1 Kings 2:37: Solomon instructs Shimei not to leave Jerusalem, warning him that crossing the Kidron Valley would result in death. "On the day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head."
·
2 Kings 23:4: King Josiah, in his reforms, defiled the high places and burned the Asherah pole in the Kidron Valley. "Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and carried their ashes to Bethel."
2.
New Testament:·
John 18:1: The Kidron Valley is mentioned in the context of Jesus' journey to the Garden of Gethsemane. "When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden."
Historical and Theological Significance:·
Symbol of Judgment and Cleansing: The Kidron Valley often served as a site for the destruction of idols and pagan altars, symbolizing purification and the removal of sin from the land. This is evident in the actions of righteous kings like Josiah, who used the valley as a place to dispose of idolatrous objects.
·
Path of Sorrow and Redemption: The valley is associated with moments of deep sorrow and reflection. David's crossing of the Kidron during Absalom's rebellion is a poignant moment of personal and national crisis. Similarly, Jesus' crossing of the Kidron on the night of His betrayal marks the beginning of His Passion, highlighting themes of suffering and redemption.
·
Geographical Context: The Kidron Valley's location between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives made it a natural boundary and a significant route for those traveling to and from the city. Its proximity to key biblical sites underscores its importance in the narrative of Scripture.
Archaeological Insights:· The Kidron Valley has been the focus of numerous archaeological studies, revealing ancient tombs and artifacts that provide insight into the historical context of biblical events. These findings help to corroborate the biblical narrative and offer a deeper understanding of the cultural and religious practices of the time.
Conclusion:The Kidron Valley remains a powerful symbol within the biblical narrative, representing themes of judgment, cleansing, and redemption. Its repeated mention in Scripture underscores its importance as a geographical and spiritual landmark in the history of Israel and the life of Jesus Christ.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Kidronobscure; making black or sad
Easton's Bible Dictionary
= Kedron = Cedron, turbid, the winter torrent which flows through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, on the eastern side of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. This valley is known in Scripture only by the name "the brook Kidron." David crossed t
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
KIDRONkid'-ron (Kedron; the King James Version Cedron): A place which, in obedience to Antiochus Sidetes, Cendebaeus fortified (1 Maccabees 15:39;), to which, when defeated, he fled, hotly pursued by John and Judas, sons of Simon the Maccabee, who burned the city (1 Maccabees 16:4;). It is named along with Jamnia (Yebna) and Azotus (Esdud). It is possibly identical with Katrah, a village about 3 miles Southwest of `Aqir (Ekron).
KIDRON, THE BROOK
(nachal qidhron; inJohn 18:1 (the King James Version Cedron), ho cheimarrhous ton Kedron, according to the Revised Version margin, the last two words are to be considered as meaning "of the cedars." The Hebrew word has been very generally accepted as from qadhar, "to become black," but it is an attractive suggestion (Cheyne) that it may be a phonetic variation of gidderon, "a spot for enclosures for cattle," of which latter there must have been many around the now buried caves which lay at the base of the cliffs around the spring Gihon):
1. Wady Sitti Miriam:
The Nachal Qidhron is the valley known today as the Wady Sitti Miriam, which lies between the eastern walls of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. It commences in the plateau to the North of the city, and after making a wide sweep Southeast, under the name Wady el Joz ("Valley of the Walnuts"), passes South until level with the southeastern corner of the temple-area where its bed is spanned by an old bridge; here the bottom of the valley, 40 ft. beneath the present surface level, is 400 ft. below the temple-platform. From this point it narrows and deepens gradually, bending slightly West of South, and, after receiving the Tyropoeon valley, joins a little farther Southwest with the Valley of Hinnom to form the Wady en Nar which winds on through the "wilderness of Judea" to the Dead Sea. Where the three valleys run together is a large open space filled with gardens (the KING'S GARDEN, which see), which are kept irrigated all the year round by means of the overflow waters from the `Ain Silwan (see SILOAM). It is where the Hinnom valley runs into the Kidron that some would locate TOPHETH (which see). Except at the irrigated gardens, the ravine is a dry valley containing water only during and immediately after heavy rain, but in ancient times the rocky bottom-now buried beneath many feet of rich soil-must have contained a little stream from Gihon for at least some hundreds of yards. This was the "brook that flowed through the midst of the land" (2 Chronicles 32:4). The length of the valley from its head to Bir Eyyub is 2 3/4 miles.
2. Traditions:
Since the 4th century A.D., this valley has been known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat (see JEHOSHAPHAT, VALLEY OF), and from quite early times it was a favorite situation for interments (2 Kings 23:4, 6, 122 Chronicles 34:4, 5); it is by Moslem and Jewish tradition the scene of the last judgment, and was known to the Moslems in the Middle Ages as Wady Jehannum; see GEHENNA. It is probable that the "graves of the common people," where King Jehoiakim cast the body of the prophet Uriah, were here (Jeremiah 26:23), and it has been suggested, with less probability, that here too may have been the scene of Ezekiel's vision of the "valley of dry bones" (Ezekiel 37; compareJeremiah 31:40).
3. The Fields of Kidron:
The Fields of Kidron (2 Kings 23:4), though generally identified with the open, lower part of this valley, where it is joined by the Tyropoeon valley, may more probably have been in the upper part where the wide expanded valley receives the name Wady el Joz; this part is actually on the road to Bethel.
4. Historical Associations:
The most dramatic scene associated with the Kidron is that recorded in connection with its earliest Scriptural mention (2 Samuel 15:23), when David, flying before his rebellious son Absalom, here stood on the Jerusalem side of the valley while all his adherents passed over. "And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron.... toward the way of the wilderness." The passing over this brook appears to have been viewed as the solemn abandonment of the Jerusalem territory (compare1 Kings 2:37). In1 Kings 15:132 Chronicles 15:16, we read that Asa burnt at the brook Kidron "an abominable image for an Asherab" which Maacah, his mother, had set up. In the reforms of Hezekiah, "all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Yahweh" was carried by the Levites to the brook Kidron (2 Chronicles 29:16); "All the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron" (2 Chronicles 30:14). This locality was again used in the reforms of Josiah when the king "brought out the Asherah from the house of Yahweh, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of the common people" (2 Kings 23:6). The same treatment was given to the vessels made for Baal, the Asherah and the host of heaven (2 Kings 23:4), and the two idolatrous altars of Manasseh (2 Kings 23:12). Josephus (Ant., IX, vii, 3) states that Athaliah was slain in the valley of Kidron, but this does not quite tally with the account (2 Kings 11:16). It was a valley associated with graves and the ashes of abominations, but it was prophesied that it should be "holy unto Yahweh" (Jeremiah 31:40). Twice it is mentioned simply as "the valley," nachal (2 Chronicles 33:14Nehemiah 2:15). Very different from these earlier scenes is the last Scriptural reference (John 18:1), when Jesus "went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron" for His last hours of spiritual struggle and prayer before the turmoil of the end.
E. W. G. Masterman
Greek
2748. Kedron --Kidron, a brook and wadi near Jer.... Kedron. 2749 .
Kidron, a brook and wadi near Jer.
... Word Origin of Hebrew origin
Qidron Definition
Kidron, a brook and wadi near Jer. NASB Word Usage
Kidron (1).
...1638. elaion -- an olive orchard, ie spec. the Mt. of Olives
... an olive orchard), referring to the Mount of Olives (J. Thayer) -- the
mountain-ridge that runs parallel to Jerusalem and separated from it by theKidron...
1068. Gethsemani -- Gethsemane, an olive orchard on the Mt. of...
... Gethsemani Phonetic Spelling: (gheth-say-man-ay') Short Definition: Gethsemane
Definition: Gethsemane, a small place between the brookKidron and the Mount of...
Strong's Hebrew
6939. Qidron -- perhaps "dusky," a wadi East of Jer.... perhaps "dusky," a wadi East of Jer. Transliteration: Qidron Phonetic Spelling:
(kid-rone') Short Definition:
Kidron.
... NASB Word Usage
Kidron (11).
Kidron.
...Library
The Arrest.
... XVII. THE ARREST. "When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples
over the brookKidron, where was a garden, into the which He entered...
Taken into the Innermost Life.
... They're outside the city-gate now, going down the path towards theKidron
Brook.... They're out in the open, down near theKidron....
The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3
... And all the valley of dead carcasses, and of ashes, and all the fields to the brook
Kidron, even to the corner of the horse-gate on the east, shall be Holiness...
How Peter Told Paul.
... saying to Paul, 'Would you like to take a walk?' and Paul said he would, so they
went down through the streets of Jerusalem, over the brookKidron, arm in arm...
Gethsemane
... Passing out by the gate north of the Temple, we descend into a lonely part of the
valley of blackKidron, at that season swelled into a winter torrent....
The Last Discourses of Christ - the Prayer of Consecration.
... and His prayer, [5719] were certainly uttered after they had risen from
the Supper, and before they crossed the brookKidron. [5720...
Going to Gethsemane, and Agony Therein.
... CXXIII. Going to Gethsemane, and Agony Therein. (a Garden Between the Brook
Kidron and the Mount of Olives. Late Thursday Night.)...
Sacrifice Renewed
... the Temple been that a strong force of priests and Levites took a fortnight to
'carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place to the brookKidron,' and to...
Asa
... Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an
idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brookKidron...
The Shadow of Death
... The Ministry VIII The Shadow of Death. 196. Of the garden of Gethsemane it is only
known that it was across theKidron, on the slope of the Mount of Olives....
Thesaurus
Kidron (11 Occurrences)... This valley is known in Scripture only by the name "the brook
Kidron."
David crossed t. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
KIDRON.
...Ashe'rah (18 Occurrences)
... his mother he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image
for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and burnt it at the brookKidron....
Grove (23 Occurrences)
... John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over
the brookKidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples...
King's (375 Occurrences)
... dale was identical with the KING'S GARDEN (which see), which he places at the open
valley formed at the junction of the Tyropoen with theKidron (see JERUSALEM...
Torrent (49 Occurrences)
... 2 Samuel 15:23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed
over; the king also himself passed over the torrentKidron, and all the...
Shrine (34 Occurrences)
... aside from being mistress, in that she made a horrible thing for a shrine, and Asa
cutteth down her horrible thing, and burneth 'it' by the brookKidron; (YLT)....
Gihon (6 Occurrences)
... only natural spring of water in or near Jerusalem is the "Fountain of the Virgin"
(qv), which rises outside the city walls on the west bank of theKidron valley...
Hinnom (11 Occurrences)
... In favor of the eastern orKidron valley we have the facts that Eusebius and Jerome
(Onom) place "Gehennom" under the eastern wall of Jerusalem and the Moslem...
Gethsemane (2 Occurrences)
... topos). From John 18:1 it is evident that it was across theKidron, and
from Luke 22:39, that it was on the Mount of Olives. Very...
Powder (14 Occurrences)
... 2 Kings 23:6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem,
unto the brookKidron, and burned it at the brookKidron, and stamped...
Resources
What is Absalom's Monument? | GotQuestions.orgWhat happened in the Garden of Gethsemane? | GotQuestions.orgWhat happened at the Pool of Siloam? | GotQuestions.orgBible Concordance •
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