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After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
John 18:1 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB 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.
  • KJV When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.
  • NKJV When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.
  • NASB When Jesus had spoken these words, He went away with His disciples across the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden which He entered with His disciples.
  • NLT After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

After his prayer, Jesus crosses the Kidron valley with his disciples and enters a garden. This sets the scene for his betrayal and arrest.

Overview

John transitions from the upper-room discourse and prayer to the passion narrative. The garden across the Kidron is Gethsemane (named in the other Gospels). Crossing the Kidron may recall David's flight from Absalom (2 Samuel 15:23), evoking the sorrow of a betrayed king. Here Jesus deliberately goes to the place where he will be handed over, showing his willing obedience to the Father's plan.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • 2 Sam 15:23Everyone 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.
  • Matt 26:36At that time Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
  • Mark 14:32Then they came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus told His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
  • John 18:26One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you with Him in the garden?”
  • Luke 22:39–40Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him.
  • 2 Kgs 23:12He 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.
  • 1 Kgs 15:13He 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.
  • John 14:31But I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us go on from here.
  • Jer 31:40The 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.”
  • Gen 3:23Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
  • 2 Kgs 23:6He 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.
  • 2 Chr 15:16King 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.
  • 2 Chr 30:14They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.
  • John 13:31–35When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
  • John 14:1–17“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well.
  • Matt 26:30And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
  • Mark 14:26And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
  • Gen 2:15Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 18:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 18:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.