Kidron; Kedron

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(turbid). The brook or ravine between Jerusalem and Olivet (2 Sam. 15:23²³And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. (2 Samuel 15:23); 2 Kings 23:6⁶And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. (2 Kings 23:6)). Cedron (John 18:1¹When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. (John 18:1)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

Download (1.7 MB)

Jerusalem and the Kidron Valley from the Air

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 Old Testament times it was treated as a defiled place. Asa burnt his mother’s idol there (1 Kings 15:13¹³And also 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 brook Kidron. (1 Kings 15:13)). Josiah also burnt there the symbols of idolatry (2 Kings 23:4,6,12⁴And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. (2 Kings 23:4)
⁶And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. (2 Kings 23:6)
¹²And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. (2 Kings 23:12)); and by 2 Kings 23:6⁶And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. (2 Kings 23:6) and Jeremiah 31:40⁴⁰And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever. (Jeremiah 31:40) it would appear to have been the common burial ground.

On the revolt of Absalom David crossed the brook before 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. 15:23,30²³And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. (2 Samuel 15:23)
³⁰And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. (2 Samuel 15:30); John 18:1¹When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. (John 18:1)), where the AV has CEDRON. See JEHOSHAPHAT, VALLEY OF.

Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:

the mourner: the black one