KIDRON
- Easton's
- Nave's
- Torrey's
| 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 this brook bare-foot and weeping, when fleeing from
Absalom (2 Samuel
15:23,30), and it was frequently crossed by our Lord in his journeyings to
and fro (John 18:1).
Here Asa burned the obscene idols of his mother (1 Kings 15:13), and
here Athaliah was executed (2 Kings 11:16). It
afterwards became the receptacle for all manner of impurities (2 Chronicles 29:16; 30:14); and in the time
of Josiah this valley was the common cemetery of the city (2 Kings 23:6; Compare Jeremiah 26:23).
Through this mountain ravine no water runs, except after heavy rains in the
mountains round about Jerusalem. Its length from its head to en-Rogel is 2 3/4
miles. Its precipitous, rocky banks are filled with ancient tombs, especially
the left bank opposite the temple area. The greatest desire of the Jews is to be
buried there, from the idea that the Kidron is the "valley of Jehoshaphat"
mentioned in Joel 3:2.
Below en-Rogel the Kidron has no historical or sacred interest. It runs in a
winding course through the wilderness of Judea to the north-western shore of the
Dead Sea. Its whole length, in a straight line, is only some 20 miles, but in
this space its descent is about 3,912 feet. (See KEDRON.)
Recent excavations have brought to light the fact that the old bed of the
Kidron is about 40 feet lower than its present bed, and about 70 feet nearer the
sanctuary wall.
| TORREY'S "THE NEW TOPICAL TEXTBOOK" (additional material included) |
CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE