Kidron
“Dark, or dusky”
Summary
A brook and valley running between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, significant as a route of flight and exile for kings, and a place where idols were destroyed.
☩Geography
The Kidron (also spelled Cedron or Kedron) was a brook or wadi running through a valley on the eastern side of Jerusalem, separating the city from the Mount of Olives. The valley begins northwest of Jerusalem and runs southward past the temple mount, then continues through the wilderness of Judah to the Dead Sea. For most of the year the brook bed is dry, but during heavy rains in winter it carries a torrent. The name may derive from the dark color of the water or the darkness of the deep valley.
☩Historical Significance
The Kidron witnessed several significant events in biblical history. David crossed it weeping as he fled from Jerusalem during Absalom's rebellion. Solomon warned Shimei that if he ever crossed the Kidron he would die, making the brook a boundary of his restricted movement. Most memorably, Jesus crossed the Kidron with His disciples on the night of His betrayal, going to the garden of Gethsemane on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. The valley became associated with judgment, and later Jewish and Christian traditions identified it with the "valley of Jehoshaphat" where God would judge the nations.
☩Place of Idol Destruction
The Kidron valley became a regular site for the destruction of idolatrous objects during religious reforms. King Asa burned his grandmother Maacah's Asherah pole there. Hezekiah's Levites cast the unclean things from the temple into the Kidron. Josiah's comprehensive reform involved burning the vessels made for Baal and Asherah at the Kidron, grinding the high places to dust, and defiling the shrines with their ashes thrown into the valley. This repeated use made the Kidron a symbol of Jerusalem's purification from idolatry.
Related Verses11 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Kidron," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. V (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).