II Samuel 15:23 · Bible study
2 Samuel 15:23 Commentary: The King Crosses Kidron
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
David's flight across Kidron with national weeping prefigures Jesus' crossing of the same brook. A study on typology, humiliation, and trust.
Research Summary
- Meaning: David's public, humiliating flight from Jerusalem across the Kidron ravine, with the entire countryside weeping, prefigures Jesus' own crossing of Kidron on the night of his betrayal.
- Key words: Bakah (weep), a loud, corporate lament; nachal (wadi/brook), a seasonal watercourse; Kidron (dark), associated with uncleanness and idol disposal.
- Main debate: The degree of intentional typology: some see David's crossing as a direct prophecy of Christ; others see a later Christian reading of an already powerful scene.
- Theological theme: The suffering king who trusts God without demanding deliverance, a pattern fulfilled in Jesus.
- Best use: Lenten meditations; sermons on leadership, humiliation, or trusting God when everything falls apart.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
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.
WEB World English Bible 2000
All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness.
KJV King James Version 1769
And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And all the land are weeping--a great voice, and all the people are passing over; and the king is passing over through the brook Kidron, and all the people are passing over on the front of the way of the wilderness;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over; the king also himself passed over the torrent Kidron, and all the people passed over, towards the way of the wilderness.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And they all wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself went over the brook Cedron, and all the people marched towards the way that looketh to the desert.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y todo el país lloró en alta voz; pasó luego toda la gente el torrente de Cedrón; asimismo pasó el rey, y todo el pueblo pasó, al camino que va al desierto.
E toda aquela terra chorou em alta voz; passou, logo, toda a gente o ribeiro de Cedrom; também passou o rei, e todo aquele povo passou, ao caminho que vai ao deserto.
Toute la contrée était en larmes et l’ on poussait de grands cris, au passage de tout le peuple. Le roi passa le torrent de Cédron, et tout le peuple passa vis-à-vis du chemin qui mène au désert.
Und das ganze Land weinte mit lauter Stimme, und alles Volk ging mit. Und der König ging über den Bach Kidron, und alles Volk ging vor auf dem Wege, der zur Wüste geht.
En het ganse land weende met luider stem, als al het volk overging; ook ging de koning over de beek Kidron, en al het volk ging over, recht naar den weg der woestijn.
E tutti quelli del paese piangevano ad alta voce, mentre tutto il popolo passava. Il re passò il torrente Kidron, e tutto il popolo passò, prendendo la via del deserto.
Tedy wszystka ziemia płakała głosem wielkim, i wszystek lud, który przechodził. A tak król przeszedł przez potok Cedron, a wszystek lud przeszedł przeciw drodze ku puszczy.
И плакала вся земля громким голосом. И весь народ переходил, и царь перешел поток Кедрон; и пошел весь народ [и царь] по дороге к пустыне.
本地 的人都 放聲 大 哭。眾 民 盡都過去，王 也過了 汲淪 溪；眾 民 往 曠野 去了。
And there was great weeping in all the country when all the people went through; and the king himself was waiting in the Kidron valley and all the people went by him in the direction of the olive-tree on the edge of the waste land.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · II Samuel 15:23
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse captures David's lowest moment as king: a defenseless flight from his own son. Cambridge Bible notes that 'all the country' refers to the onlookers, while 'all the people' are the army and retinue accompanying David. Gill, Keil-Delitzsch, and Wesley each highlight the brook Kidron as a winter torrent, dry in summer, and explicitly connect it to John 18:1, where Jesus crosses the same ravine on the night of his betrayal. The consensus is that the place marks a king's humiliation and, when read in the New Testament, becomes a shadow of the Messiah's suffering. The wilderness road toward Jericho, as several commentators note, lies through the desert of Judah, a path of obscurity and dependence.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Direct typology: John 18:1's mention of Kidron and the betrayal context mirrors David's flight from Ahithophel's treachery; psalm 41:9 and 55:12-14 are cited as explicit prophecies.
- Thematic parallel: The shared imagery of a king crossing a defiled ravine in grief creates a resonant pattern, but the Gospel writer may not have intended a one-to-one prophecy; the connection is literary and theological.
- Historical reading: Focus on David's personal faith in a moment of political collapse; typology is secondary or incidental to the narrative's immediate power.
What is clear: David crossed Kidron as a deposed king, the people wept with him, and he headed into the wilderness — a moment of profound humiliation and trust.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Typological connection to Jesus | All major commentators note that John 18:1 places Jesus crossing the same brook Kidron, and most see a deliberate echo of David's flight. | Some (e.g., many Reformed and evangelical readers) treat this as a direct typological prophecy; others (e.g., critical scholarship) see it as a later theological parallel drawn by the Gospel writer. |
| Meaning of the wilderness | The wilderness road to Jericho is a historical route through the Judean desert. | Some interpret 'wilderness' primarily as a place of testing and repentance; others view it simply as a geographic detail without symbolic weight. |
| Significance of Kidron as a 'dark' place | Kidron is consistently associated with disposal of uncleanness and idolatry in the Old Testament. | Whether that background is intentionally drawn on here or is incidental is debated. Cross-references to 2 Kings 23:4 and 2 Chronicles 29:16 support the connection for some; others caution that the name may simply mean 'dark' without cultic connotations. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Kidron is the deep ravine east of Jerusalem, separating the city from the Mount of Olives. Its name likely means 'dark' or 'black,' referring to the murky water that flows during heavy winter rains; in summer the channel is dry. Throughout the Old Testament, Kidron is associated with disposal of idolatrous objects. Asa burned his mother Maacah's image there (1 Kings 15:13), Hezekiah's priests dumped the temple's uncleanness into it (2 Chronicles 29:16), and Josiah desecrated the high places there (2 Kings 23:4, 6, 12). It was an unholy, defiled place, exactly where a king humiliated and rejected by his own people would cross.
The literary context sharpens the pathos: David has just sent the ark of God back to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 15:25), refusing to use it as a talisman. He leaves the city barefoot and weeping, his head covered (v. 30). The 'way of the wilderness' was the road to Jericho, skirting the northern edge of the Judean desert, a stark, barren route that matched the king's inward desolation.
This scene is the hinge of the entire Absalom narrative: David, once the giant-killer and conqueror, now owns neither city nor security. He crosses Kidron as a fugitive, trusting God alone, and the land weeps with him.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for II Samuel 15:23. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts, with minor differences in later versions (e.g., Septuagint substituting 'cedars' for 'Kidron' in some manuscripts) but none affecting interpretation.
Reception History
From the early church, this verse was read as a type of Christ's passion. Augustine, in his Expositions on the Psalms, connects David's weeping and crossing Kidron to Jesus' agony and betrayal. The parallel appears in liturgies for Holy Week, especially in Eastern traditions that process across a symbolic Kidron. Medieval commentators (e.g., Cassiodorus, Hugh of St. Victor) followed the same line, seeing David's exile as a prefiguration of the Messiah's rejection. The Reformers read it as a model of faith under trial: Calvin and Luther both point to David's trust in sending back the ark, while Wesley and Clarke emphasize the emotional weight of the scene. In modern preaching, the verse appears regularly in Lenten sermons and studies on the suffering of Christ.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The land weeps with its king: Corporate grief is biblical. The nation's tears matched David's brokenness. In our own times of public failure, the community mourns not just for the fallen leader but for the broken order.
- The king crosses into defiled ground: Kidron was a place of discarded idols and temple garbage. David's humiliation and exit from the city echo the truth that a leader's lowest moment often passes through what others have treated as cursed.
- The way of the wilderness lies ahead: No guarantee of return. David's words in verses 25-26 frame this as trust: 'If I find favor in Yahweh's eyes, he will bring me again; if not, let him do to me as seems good to him.' The wilderness is not just geography, it is faith without a backup plan.
Five-point outline
- The sound of weeping: the whole land joins the lament
- The crossing of Kidron: a king's shame and the place of cleansing
- The way to the wilderness: a path of trust
- The ark sent back: David refuses to use holy things selfishly
- The shadow of the cross: Jesus walks the same valley on the night of betrayal
Illustration hooks
- A pastor who confessed moral failure and had to leave the church building, crossing the parking lot as a congregation wept.
- A family fleeing domestic violence, carrying only what they could, crossing an invisible line into an uncertain future.
- An employee wrongly fired, walking out past former colleagues who are silent with shame.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why would God allow His anointed king to be driven out like a criminal?
- How can I trust God when my own family turns against me?
- Does public humiliation mean I have lost God's favor?
Leading a Discussion
This verse sits at the emotional pivot of David's flight. The whole land weeps, a king crosses a brook that normally serves as a trash dump, and the people head into the wilderness. Read the scene slowly and let the weight of it settle before you discuss.
Discussion questions
- What do you notice about the way the verse describes the crowd's response? Who is weeping, the army, the villagers, or both?
- Kidron is a seasonal wadi, often dry, but in this context it becomes a symbolic boundary. What does David leave behind when he crosses it?
- How does David's refusal to keep the ark of God (verses 25-26) shape the meaning of his departure? What does it say about his trust?
- The New Testament places Jesus crossing this same Kidron on the night of his betrayal (John 18:1). What parallels and differences do you see between the two scenes?
- Have you ever had to leave a place, a role, or a relationship in humiliation? What did that crossing cost you?
- In what ways can corporate grief (a family, a church, a nation weeping together) be a healthy part of walking through loss?
- What would it mean for you today to 'cross Kidron', to let go of something you are tempted to cling to, and trust God for the next step?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| II Samuel 16:2 | The king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?” Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that those who are faint in the wilderness may drink.” |
| I Kings 2:37 | For on the day you go out and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you will surely die. Your blood will be on your own head.” |
| I Kings 15:13 | He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. |
| II Chronicles 29:16 | The priests went into the inner part of Yahweh’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in Yahweh’s temple into the court of Yahweh’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron. |
| Matthew 3:1 | In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, |
| Matthew 3:3 | For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make the way of the Lord ready! Make his paths straight!” |
| Luke 1:80 | The child was growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel. |
| John 18:1 | When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Adam Clarke notes that the brook Kidron was a minor stream, carrying water only in winter and during rainy periods. His observation corrects any impression that it was a substantial river.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentary draws a deliberate parallel between David fleeing Jerusalem across the Kidron ravine and Christ leaving the city that rejected Him. It suggests the New Testament mention of Kidron in John's Gospel was meant to recall this moment, with Ahithophel's treachery prefiguring Judas.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
And all the countrey wept with a loude voyce, and all the people went forward, but the King passed ouer the brooke Kidron: and all the people went ouer toward the way of ye wildernes.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill highlights that David crossed the brook Kidron while fleeing from Absalom, and he notes that this same brook was crossed by the Messiah, his antitype, shortly before his suffering and death. He also describes Kidron as a stream that flows only in winter and is dry in summer, based on travelers' accounts.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB identifies the brook Kidron not as a permanent river but as a winter torrent, flowing only seasonally through the valley that separates Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. The observation highlights the brook's specific character and its precise geographical setting.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange traces Absalom's rebellion to deep dissatisfaction with David's judicial administration, not just to Absalom's ambition. He notes the revolt began in Judah itself, David's own tribe, revealing simmering discontent. David's response is key: he accepts the rebellion as divine chastisement and submits without resistance.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry observes that David's flight is not driven by cowardice but by wise concern for the city's safety and his people's lives. He notes David's tender respect for Ittai, a foreigner, releasing him from any obligation, which makes Ittai's vow of unshakable loyalty even more striking.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley observes that the brook Kidron, also called Cedron near Jerusalem, is the very brook Jesus crossed as he entered his sufferings. He further identifies the wilderness as the region between Jerusalem and Jericho, linking the verse's geography directly to the passion narrative.