How many times is Kidron mentioned in the Bible?
The word Kidron appears 11 times in the King James Version, in 10 verses. Counting every form (Kidron, Cedron), it appears 12 times in 11 verses across 6 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Kidron 12 times.
The KJV spells the brook Cedron in John 18:1, where the World English Bible writes Kidron. Both spellings are counted.
Kidron in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Kidron counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Kidron | 11 | 12 |
| Cedron | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 12 | 12 |
What the name Kidron means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Kidron as "obscure; making black or sad".
This is the 1869 traditional meaning; modern scholars often read names differently.
See every name and place with its meaning and count on Bible names and their meanings.
Source: Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869), checked 2026-10-24.
First and last mention of Kidron
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.
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.
The verse that uses it most is 2 Kings 23:6, 2 times:
And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
Common questions
How many times is Kidron in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 11 of the 12 uses are in the Old Testament and 1 in the New Testament. Kidron appears in 6 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 2 Kings has the most (4), then 2 Chronicles (3) and 1 Kings (2).
Where is Kidron first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is 2 Samuel 15:23: "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." The last is John 18:1.
What does the name Kidron mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Kidron as "obscure; making black or sad".
More word counts: Gilboa, Belteshazzar, Shunammite, Mamre, Rabshakeh, love, God, Jesus, or all 635 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-24.