John 18:1

§ 132-3. THE AGONY IN GETHSEMANE, vv. AND THE BETRAYAL, John 18:1-12 .

1. He went forth That is, as we understand it, from the supper-room on the eastern part of Mount Zion. As no other going forth is unequivocally indicated from the beginning of chapter xiii to this present clause, we are obliged to conclude that the discourse, stretching probably into midnight, was entirely uttered in the same room. The route now taken by Jesus to Gethsemane the reader will find described in our note on Matthew 26:36.

The brook Cedron The brook Cedron, Kedron, or Kidron, (the name being derived from a Hebrew word signifying turbid,) is a winter or rain torrent, formed by the waters occasionally running from the sides of Olivet and Moriah, into what is now called the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The ravine or valley takes its origin above a mile to the northwest of the city, and, deepening as it proceeds, makes an angular turn opposite the temple. Thence southeastwardly, it passes between Siloam and the city, and thence goes toward the Dead Sea through a deep and singularly wild gorge. During the summer season, in the absence of rains, the channel is perfectly dry, so that in reality its occasional turbid stream formed a sort of gutter for the eastern margin of the city. By a bridge over the ravine the traveller still passes from St. Stephen’s gate to Gethsemane.