Kidron (the turbid), the brook or winter torrent which flows through the valley of Jehoshaphat (as it is now called), on the east side of Jerusalem. 'The brook Kidron' is the only name by which 'the valley' itself is known in Scripture; for it is by no means certain, nor even probable, that the name 'valley of Jehoshaphat' in Joel () was intended to apply to this valley. The word rendered 'brook' (;; etc.), may be taken as equivalent to the Arabic Wady, meaning a stream and its bed or valley, or properly the valley of a stream, even when the stream is dry. The Septuagint, Josephus, and the Evangelists (), designate it a storm brook, or winter torrent.
The brook Kidron derives all its importance from its vicinity to the holy city, being nothing more than the dry bed of a winter torrent, bearing marks of being occasionally swept over by a large volume of water. No stream flows through it, except during the heavy rains of winter, when the waters descend into it from the neighboring hills. But even in winter there is no constant flow, and the resident missionaries assured Dr. Robinson that they had not during several years seen a stream running through the valley. The ravine in which the stream is collected takes its origin above a mile to the north-east of the city. This ravine deepens as it proceeds, and forms an angle opposite the temple. It then takes a southeast direction, and, passing between the village of Siloam and the city, runs off in the direction of the Dead Sea, through a singularly wild gorge, the course of which few travelers have traced. It is in this ravine that the celebrated monastery of Santa Saba is situated. Dr. Madden, who went through the valley to the Dead Sea, thus speaks of the character which it assumes as it approaches the monastery:—'After traversing for the last hour a wild ravine, formed by two rugged perpendicular mountains, the sides of which contained innumerable caverns, which once formed a sort of troglodyte city, in which the early Christians resided, the sight of the convent in this desolate place was like a glimpse of paradise.' On leaving the convent the next day he says that he 'marched through the bed of the Kidron, along the horrible ravine which he entered the day before;' but he gives no account of its outlet into the Dead Sea. This defect is supplied by Dr. Robinson, who, on passing along the western borders of the lake, came 'to the deep and almost impassable ravine of the Kidron, running down by Mar Saba, and thence called Wady-er-Rahib, “Monk's Valley;” but here also bearing the name of Wady en-Nar, “Fire Valley.” At this place it was running E.S.E., in a deep narrow channel, between perpendicular walls of rock, as if worn away by the rushing waters between these desolate chalky hills. There was, however, no water in it now, nor had there apparently been any for a long time.'
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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