What is the Kidron Valley in the Bible?

The valley, or wide wady, that lies between the east of Jerusalem and the west of Mount Olivet. It is joined by the valley of Hinnom that runs along the south of Jerusalem, and it continues its course for about twenty miles to the Dead Sea. Though called a brook, it is now nearly always dry; this is supposed to be partially due to the amount of rubbish lying in the valley. Its true bottom has been found some forty feet below, and much nearer to the walls of the city. The side of the valley nearest the city is full of Mahometan graves, and on the eastern slope are the graves of the Jews, among which is the erection called the Pillar of Absalom. In O.T. times it was treated as a defiled place. Asa burnt his mother's idol there. 1 Kings 15:13. Josiah also burnt there the symbols of idolatry. 2 Kings 23:4, 6, 12; and by 2 Kings 23:6; Jer. 31:40 it would appear to have been the common burial ground.

On the revolt of Absalom David crossed the brook ere he climbed the mount of Olives. The Lord also crossed it on His last visit to Gethsemane, when He was about to be delivered up by Judas. 2 Sam. 15:23, 30; John 18:1, where the A.V. has CEDRON. See JEHOSHAPHAT, VALLEY OF.

The Lord now left Jerusalem, to re-enter it shortly afterwards as a prisoner. He went over the brook Cedron with His disciples to a garden well known to Him and to them. Now this garden, as John calls it (18:1), is termed by Matthew (26:36) and by Mark (14:32) a place, and is named by them Gethsemane. Our Evangelist locates it beyond the Cedron, that well-known brook which flows in the deep valley between Mount Moriah and the Mount of Olives, and which is now known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And Luke (22:39) tells Theophilus that it was situated on the Mount of Olives.

Others however associate the above with the valley lying between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, now called the Valley of Jehoshaphat; but no trace of this name as attached to that particular valley can be found earlier than the fourth century. It was and is otherwise known as the Valley of the KIDRON, q.v.

The beautiful situation of Jerusalem is noticed in scripture; it stands about 2593 feet above the sea, and the mountains round about it are spoken of as its security. Ps. 125:2; Lam. 2:15. Between the mountains and the city there are valleys on three sides: on the east the valley of the Kidron, or Jehoshaphat; on the west the valley of Gihon; and on the south the valley of Hinnom. The Mount of Olives is on the east, from whence the best view of Jerusalem is to be had. On the S.W. lies the Mount of Offence, so called because it is supposed that Solomon practised idolatry there. On the south is the Hill of Evil Counsel; the origin of which name is said to be that Caiaphas had a villa there, in which a council was held to put the Lord to death. But these and many other names commonly placed on maps, have no other authority than that of tradition. To the north the land is comparatively level, so that the attacks on the city were made on that side.

The mountain range on the east of Jerusalem, separated from the city by the Kidron valley. It doubtless derived its name from the olive-trees that grew on it. This name occurs but seldom in the O.T., and apparently the mountain is not referred to under any other name. David when he hastened from Jerusalem at the rebellion of Absalom ascended Mount Olivet. 2 Sam. 15:30. In a future day its configuration will be changed, for the prophet says the feet of the Lord will stand upon it and the mount will be cleft asunder. Zech. 14:4.

Verse 1. "Jesus having said these things, went out with his disciples beyond the torrent Cedron, where was a garden, into which he entered, he and his disciples." "The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron … and David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went." Jesus and David, each in rejection, found it a via dolorosa, a path of sorrow indeed! The outward path here was the same, but there the resemblance ceased.

The hour of His suffering had now come. With His disciples He went across the brook Cedron into the garden. It is the Kidron mentioned frequently in Old Testament history. When David fled from his own son Absalom, he passed weeping over this brook. (2 Samuel 15:23.) See also 2 Chronicles 15:16 and 2 Kings 23:12. It is claimed that the way by which our Lord left the city was the way by which the scapegoat was yearly, on the great day of atonement, sent into the wilderness. The garden, though not named here, is Gethsemane. Judas knew the place, and the Lord knowing that Judas would betray Him, went deliberately there to be delivered into the hands of man. Nothing is said at all by John about the agony, the deep soul-exercise, through which our Lord passed in that night; nor is there a word about His sweat, as it were great drops of blood. All these things are recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, in which His perfect humanity is described, they are passed over in the Gospel of His Deity. But John describes a scene which the other Gospels omit. He manifests His power. When the band of men said that they sought Jesus of Nazareth, He said unto them, "I am He." Then the whole company went backward and fell to the ground. What a scene that must have been! Several hundred men with their lanterns, torches and weapons all prostrate on the ground before the One Man. They stood in the presence of Jehovah and His power and majesty was present so that the one word was sufficient to prostrate them all. It was a striking evidence that neither the treachery of Judas, nor the wicked hatred of the Jews, nor the power of Rome, could touch our Lord. But the hour had now arrived when He was ready to give Himself up. Augustine made the following comment: "What shall He do when He comes to judge, Who did this when He was about to be judged? What shall be His might when He comes to reign, Who had this might when He was about to die?" Then after His second answer He said, "If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way." Willingly He allows Himself bound, on the condition that His own must be free. It is a blessed illustration of the Gospel. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. Substitution is fully revealed in this gracious statement. He gives Himself up that His people might be free.

What sacred memories must ever associate with "Gethsemane"! John speaks of it (chap. 18) as “a garden”, and to reach this we read, “He went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron.” And as we read these words, our thoughts are carried back to another garden where the “first Adam”, under testing, so signally failed and blighted God’s fair creation by his sin, becoming head of a fallen race. “Cedron”, the deep valley east of Jerusalem, giving its name to the “brook”, links our thoughts with David, when all Israel went after the usurper, and the rightful king with a few devoted followers went weeping from Jerusalem, passing over this same brook (2 Sam. 15:23). This was the occasion of David writing Psalm 3 (see title).

And so the king leaves and stops at the banks of Kidron. This hasty flight is nevertheless so calm that it has the appearance of a royal procession rather than a defeat. This is because the flight is dominated by the deep feeling that one is with God in tribulation. The fleeing king immediately becomes the center of his people during this exodus. Behind him walk his household and all the people who have remained faithful to him; at his sides are his servants; before him are his warriors. Isn't it striking that his soldiers are not his rear-guard when the enemy is at the heels of this defenseless people? But no, they march in front of the king, his heralds and his witnesses on the way of the wilderness. Absalom's companions may consider this march a rout for David; the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and the Gittites view it as a supreme honor. Now notice this: at the moment when through the rebellion of his people the true king of Israel becomes a stranger and fugitive strangers are set in the place of honor. The Cherethites and the Pelethites, Philistine tribes, were emigrants, it is said, from Crete; and the Gittites, (people of Gath), left that Philistine city and the land of their origin to join their lot to that of David. Their former king had lost his authority over them; the Lord's king had become the compass that would direct them from this time onward.

"But this was to revive the old Canaanitish and Phoenician worship, with all its abominations and all its defilements. The valley of Gihon, which bounds Jerusalem on the west, descends at its southern extremity into that of Hinnom, which in turn joins at the ancient royal gardens the valley of Kidron, that runs along the eastern declivity of the Holy City. There, at the junction of the valleys of Hinnom and Kidron, in these gardens, was Topheth--'the spitting out,' or place of abomination--where an Ahaz, a Manasseh, and an Amon, sacrificed their sons and daughters to Baal-Moloch, and burnt incense to foul idols. Truly was Hinnom, 'moaning,' and rightly was its name Gehinnom (valley of Hinnom--Geheena), adopted as that for the place of final suffering. And it is one of those strange coincidences that the hill which rises on the south side of this spot was that 'potter's field,' the 'field of blood,' which Judas bought with the wages of his betrayal, and where with his own hands he executed judgment on himself. History is full of such coincidences, as men call them; nor can we forget in this connection that it was on the boundary-line between the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz that Rome was founded (in 752 B.C.), which was destined to execute final judgment on apostate Israel" (A. Edersheim).