KIDRON, in N. T. Cethvn turbid ;I LXX. and N. T., KeSpthv ; Cedron). In ever3 instance, except one, in which this name is men tioned in the O. T., the word nakhal 617p, A. V. brook') is joined to it. This word appears to be exactly equivalent to the Arabic wady or which signifies a valley' or ravine,' either with or without a river ; the proper word for river' itself, both in Hebrew and Arabic, being nahar which is never applied to the Kidron. In 2 Kings xxiii. 4, the fields of Kidron' are mentioned, and reference is made to the culti vated ground in the bottom of the Kidron valley. The word 2zakhal is uniformly rendered xelactiVos by the LXX., and in John xviii. 1., the only pas sage of the N. T. in which the Kidron is men tioned, it is called xElaagos 7‘2,1, KeSpam. Xci pah5os signifies a winter stream '—a stream formed or swollen by winter rain or snow, and in this re spect it is applicable to the Kidron ; but Josephus usually applies to it the still more appropriate name chasm' or ravine' (Antiq. ix. 7. 3). In the Vulgate the uniform rendering is torrens Ccdron, except in 2 Kings xxiii. 6, where it is convallis, which is much more appropriate. The term brook' in our A. V. is an unfortunate translation, for it must convey to ordinary readen a totally wrong idea of the Kidron.
The Kidron is a mountain ravine, in most places narrow, with precipitous banks of naked limestone ; but here and there its banks have an easy slope, and along its bottom are strips of land capable of cultivation. It contains the bed of a streamlet, but during the whole summer, and most of the winter, it is perfectly dry ; in fact, no water runs in it except when heavy rains are falling in the mountains round Jerusalem.
On the broad summit of the mountain-ridge of Juda, a mile and a quarter north-west of Jeru salem, is a slight depression ; this is the head of the Kidron. The sides of the depression, and the elevated ground around it, are whitened by the broad jagged tops of limestone rocks, and almost every rock is excavated, partly as a quarry, and partly to form the facade of a tomb. The valley, or depression, runs for about half a mile towards the city ; it is shallow and broad, dotted with corn-fields, and sprinkled with a few old olives. It then bends eastward, and in another half mile is crossed by the great northern road coming down from the hill Scopus. On the east side of the road, and south bank of the Kidron, are the cele brated Tombs of the _Kings. The bed of the valley is here about half a mile due north of the city gate. It continues in the same course about a quarter of a mile farther, and then, turning south, opens into a wide basin containing- cultivated fields and olives. Here it is crossed diagonally by the road from Jerusalem to Anathoth. As it advances southward, the right bank, forming the side of the hill Bezetha, becomes higher and steeper, with occasional preci pices of rock, on which may be seen a few frag ments of the ancient city wall ; while, on the left, the base of Olivet projects, greatly narrowing the val ley. Opposite St. Stephen's gate the depth is fully I I 00 feet, and the breadth not more than 400 feet. I The olive trees in the bottom are so thickly ans.
tered as to form a shady grove ; and their massive trunks and gnarled boughs give evidence of great age. This spot is shut out from the city, from the view of public roads, and from the notice and in terruptions of wayfarers. May not this be the site of Gethsemane, rather than the more public tradi tional site some distance farther clown ? [GETHSE MANE.] A zigzag path descends the steep bank
from St. Stephen's gate, crosses the bed of the valley by an old bridge, and then branches. One branch leads direct over the top of Olivet. This path has a deep historical interest ; it was by it that David went when he fled from Absalom :—.`The king passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness' (2 Sam. xv. 23). [OLivET.] Another branch 11.111S round the southern shoulder of the hill to Bethany, and it has a deep sacred interest, for it is the road of Christ's triumphal entry (Matt. xxi. 1, sty. ; Luke xix. 37). Below the bridge the Kidron be comes still narrower, and here traces of a torrent bed first begin to appear. Three hundred yards farther down, the hills on each side—Moriah on the right and Olivet on the left—rise precipitously from the torrent bed, which is spanned by a single arch. On the left bank is a singular group of tombs, com prising those of Absalom, Jehoshaphat, and St. James (now so called) ; while on the right, 150 feet overhead, towers the south-eastern angle of the temple wall, most probably the pinnacle' on which our Lord was placed (Matt. iv. 5). The ravine runs on, narrow and rocky, for 500 yards more ; there, on its right bank, in a cave, is the fountain of the Virgin ; and higher up on tbe left, perched on the side of naked cliffs, the ancient vil lage of Siloam. A short distance farther down, the valley of the Tyropean falls in from the right, de scending in terraced slopes, fresh and green, from the waters of the Pool of Siloam. The Kidron here expands, affording a level tract for cultivation, and now covered with beds of cucumbers, melons, and other vegetables. Here of old was the King's Garden' (Neh. 15). The level tract extends down to the mouth of Ilinnom, and is about zoo yards wide. A short distance below the junc tion of Hinnom and the Kidron is the fountain of EN-ROGEL, now called Mr Ayith, the Well of Job.' The length of the valley from its head to En-Rogel is 21 miles, and here the historic Kidron may be said to terminate. Every reference to the Kidron in the Bible is made to this section. David crossed it at a point opposite the city (I Sam. xv. 23) ; it was the boundary beyond which Solomon forbad Shimei to go on pain of death (1 Kings ii. 37) ; it was here, probably, near the mouth of Ilinnom, that Asa destroyed the idol which Ma achah his mother set up (xv. 13) ; and it seems to have been at the same spot, in the fields of Kidron,' that King Josiah ordered the vessels of I3aal to be burned (2 Kings xxiii. 4). It would seem from 2 Kings xxiii. 6, that a portion of the Kidron,. apparently near the mouth of Hinnom, was used as a burying-ground. The sides of the surrounding cliffs are filled with ancient rock tombs ; and the greatest boon the dying Jew now asks is, that his bones be laid in the valley of Jehoshaphat. The whole of the left bank of the Kidron, oppo site the temple area, far up the side of Olivet, is paved with the white tombstones of Jews. This singular longing is doubtless to be ascribed to the opinion which the Jews entertain that the Kidron is the valley of Yehoshaphat mentioned by Joel (iii. 2). This opinion, which has given its modern name to the valley, has been considered in the article JEFIOSHAPHAT (Reland, Pal., pp. 294-96 ; Robin son, B. R., i. 268-73; Ritter, Pal. und Syr., ii. 59S-6zo ; Hana'book jiir S. and P., i. pp. io1-2).