The Kidron Valley, also known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, is located east of Jerusalem and was the site of several significant events in the Bible.
Also known as Valley of Jehoshaphat · Cedron
The Kidron Valley, also referred to as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, is a deep ravine located east of Jerusalem, separating the city from the Mount of Olives. The valley is mentioned several times in the Bible as the location of important events. King David crossed the Kidron Valley when fleeing from his son Absalom (2Sa.15.23). King Asa burned the idol of his mother, Maacah, in the Kidron Valley (1Ki.15.13; 2Ch.15.16). During the religious reforms of King Josiah, the objects used for idol worship were burned and their ashes thrown into the Kidron Valley (2Ki.23.4, 6, 12). The valley is also associated with the prophetic visions of Joel, who referred to it as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where God would gather the nations for judgment (Jol.3.2, 12). In the New Testament, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples to enter the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal (Jhn.18.1). The Kidron Valley has been used as a burial place for thousands of years, and it holds great significance for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
Approximate location: 31.772, 35.237 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
= 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 Sam. 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 Chr. 29:16; 30:14); and in the time of Josiah this valley was the common cemetery of the city (2 Kings 23:6; comp. Jer. 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.
(turbid), The brook, a torrent or valley, not a “brook,” or, as in the margin of Revised Version, “ravine;” Gr. winter torrent. It was close to Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. it is now commonly known as the “valley of Jehoshaphat.” The channel of the valley of Jehoshaphat is nothing more than the dry bed of a wintry torrent, bearing marks of being occasionally swept over by a large volume of water. It was crossed by David in his flight, (2 Samuel 15:23) comp. 2Sam 15:30 And by our Lord on his way to Gethsemane. (John 18:1) comp. Mark 14:26; Luke 22:39 The distinguishing peculiarity of the Kidron valley—mentioned in the Old Testament— is the impurity which appears to have been ascribed to it. In the time of Josiah it was the common cemetery of the city. (2 Kings 23:6) comp. Jere 26:23
obscure; making black or sad
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
13 verses in 7 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H6939
Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.
On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”
He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.
He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
So the priests went inside the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out to the courtyard all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the LORD. Then the Levites took these things and carried them out to the Kidron Valley.
They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.
The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”
I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.
Let the nations be roused and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the nations on every side.
After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.