{ "id": "dict_003115", "term": "Kidron Valley", "slug": "kidron-valley", "letter": "K", "entry_type": "biblical_place", "entry_family": "theological_term", "depth_profile": "standard", "short_definition": "A valley east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives, noted in Scripture for royal departures, temple cleansing, and Jesus’ arrest night.", "simple_one_line": "The Kidron Valley is the ravine east of Jerusalem mentioned in several significant biblical events.", "tooltip_text": "A valley east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives, associated with mourning, cleansing, and decisive turning points in biblical history.", "aliases": [], "scripture_references": [], "original_language_terms": [], "related_entries": [ "Jerusalem", "Mount of Olives", "David", "Absalom", "Josiah", "Hezekiah", "Jesus’ arrest", "Temple cleansing" ], "see_also": [ "Achor Valley", "Brook of Kidron", "Jerusalem", "Mount of Olives", "Absalom’s rebellion" ], "lede_intro": "The Kidron Valley is the deep ravine on the east side of Jerusalem, separating the city from the Mount of Olives. It appears in the Bible in scenes of mourning, reform, and crisis, including David’s flight from Absalom, Judah’s cleansing reforms, and Jesus’ crossing on the night of His arrest.", "at_a_glance_definition": "A geographic location east of Jerusalem with repeated biblical significance.", "at_a_glance_key_points": [ "Lies between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives", "Appears in both Old and New Testament narratives", "Associated with removal of idolatry, royal conflict, and Jesus’ final hours", "Important historically and geographically rather than doctrinally" ], "description_academic_short": "The Kidron Valley is an important ravine east of Jerusalem, separating the city from the Mount of Olives. In Scripture it is associated with David’s flight, later purification reforms, and Jesus’ crossing on the night of His arrest. Its significance is primarily geographic and historical, though it functions symbolically in scenes of judgment, cleansing, and sorrow.", "description_academic_full": "The Kidron Valley is the valley or ravine immediately east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. Scripture mentions it in several major contexts. David crossed it while fleeing from Absalom, a scene marked by grief and royal crisis. In later reform movements, items connected with idolatry and defilement were taken into the Kidron Valley and destroyed, underscoring the removal of impurity from the land and temple precincts. In the New Testament, Jesus crossed the Kidron on His way to the garden where He was arrested, linking the location to the opening moments of His passion. The Kidron Valley is therefore best understood as a biblical place-name with recurring narrative importance, not as a distinct theological doctrine or concept.", "background_biblical_context": "In the Old Testament, the valley appears in narratives of Davidic distress and in reforming actions under Judah’s kings. In the New Testament, it serves as the route Jesus took after the Passover meal before His arrest, placing the valley near the center of the passion account.", "background_historical_context": "The Kidron Valley formed a natural boundary on the east side of ancient Jerusalem. Because of its proximity to the city, temple area, and Mount of Olives, it became associated with movement out of the city, burial and defilement imagery, and decisive public events.", "background_jewish_ancient_context": "In ancient Jewish life, valleys near Jerusalem could carry practical and symbolic associations, especially when linked with ritual impurity, idolatry removal, or mourning. The Kidron Valley gained added significance because it stood beside the temple city and along a route used in moments of national crisis.", "key_texts_primary": [ "2 Samuel 15:23", "2 Kings 23:4, 6, 12", "2 Chronicles 29:16", "John 18:1" ], "key_texts_secondary": [ "Jeremiah 31:40" ], "original_language_note": "The Hebrew name is commonly rendered for the Kidron ravine or brook; the Greek New Testament refers to the same location in John 18:1. The name is tied to the valley east of Jerusalem.", "theological_significance": "The Kidron Valley itself is not a doctrine, but its biblical uses reinforce themes of cleansing, separation from idolatry, sorrow, and obedience in moments of testing. It also frames the narrative setting for Jesus’ submission before His arrest.", "philosophical_explanation": "As a place-name, the Kidron Valley illustrates how physical geography can become the setting for moral and spiritual turning points in redemptive history. The Bible often uses real places to anchor real events rather than abstract ideas.", "interpretive_cautions": "Do not overread the valley as a standalone symbol with fixed allegorical meaning. Its significance comes from the events associated with it, not from the geography alone.", "major_views_note": "Readers generally agree on the Kidron Valley as a real geographic feature east of Jerusalem. Differences mainly concern topographical detail and whether the valley’s later associations should be treated as symbolic, but its biblical identity as a place is not in dispute.", "doctrinal_boundaries": "This entry should not be used to build doctrine apart from the events recorded in Scripture. The valley supports biblical narrative and historical context, not an independent theological system.", "practical_significance": "The Kidron Valley reminds readers that God’s redemptive work unfolds in real places and real history. It also highlights how repentance, reform, and obedience often involve concrete actions.", "meta_description": "Kidron Valley is the ravine east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives, noted in David’s flight, Judah’s reforms, and Jesus’ arrest night.", "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/kidron-valley/", "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/kidron-valley.json", "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL" }