SEV Biblia, Chapter 18:1
¶ Habiendo dicho Jess estas cosas, sali con sus discípulos tras el arroyo de Cedrn, donde había un huerto, en el cual entr Jess y sus discípulos.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - John 18:1
Verse 1. Over the brook Cedron] Having finished the prayer related in the preceding chapter, our Lord went straight to the garden of Gethsemane, Matt. xxvi. 36, which was in the mount of Olives, eastward of Jerusalem. This mount was separated from the city by a very narrow valley, through the midst of which the brook Cedron ran: see 1 Macc. xii. 37; Joseph. War, b. v. c. 2, s. 3. xii. 2. Cedron is a very small rivulet, about six or seven feet broad, nor is it constantly supplied with water, being dry all the year, except during the rains. It is mentioned in the Old Testament: 2 Sam. xv. 23; 1 Kings xv. 13; 2 Kings xxiii. 4. And it appears the evangelist only mentions it here to call to remembrance what happened to David, when he was driven from Jerusalem by his son Absalom, and he and his followers obliged to pass the brook Cedron on foot: see 2 Samuel xv. 23. All this was a very expressive figure of what happened now to this second David, by the treachery of one of his own disciples. This brook had its name probably from rdq Kadar, he was black; it being the place into which the blood of the sacrifices, and other filth of the city, ran. It was rather, says Lightfoot, the sink, or the common sewer, of the city, than a brook. Some copyists, mistaking kedrwn for Greek, have changed tou into twn, and thus have written twn kedrwn, of cedars, instead of tou kedrwn, the brook of Cedron: but this last is undoubtedly the genuine reading.
A garden] Gethsemane: see on Matt. xxvi. 36.
The Jewish grandees had their gardens and pleasure grounds without the city even in the mount of Olives. This is still a common custom among the Asiatics.
St. John mentions nothing of the agony in the garden; probably because he found it so amply related by all the other evangelists. As that account should come in here, the reader is desired to consult the notes on Matt. xxvi. 36-47. See also Mark xiv. 30-36, and Luke xxii. 40-44.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 1. When Jesus had spoken these words , etc.] Referring either to his discourses in ( John 14:1-16:33), in which he acquaints his disciples with his approaching death; comforts them under the sorrowful apprehension of his departure from them; gives them many excellent promises for their relief, and very wholesome advice how to conduct themselves; lets them know what should befall them, and that things, however distressing for the present, would have a joyful issue: or else to his prayer in the preceding chapter, in which he had been very importunate with his Father, both for himself and his disciples; or to both of these, which is highly probable: he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron ; the same with Kidron in ( 2 Samuel 15:23); and elsewhere: it had its name, not from cedars, for not cedars but olives chiefly grew upon the mount, which was near it; and besides the name is not Greek, but Hebrew, though the Arabic version renders it, the brook zra la , of Cedar: it had its name either from the darkness of the valley in which it ran, being between high mountains, and having gardens in it, and set with trees; or from the blackness of the water through the soil that ran into it, being a kind of a common sewer, into which the Jews cast everything that was unclean and defiling; (see 2 Chronicles 29:16 30:14). Particularly there was a canal which led from the altar in the temple to it, by which the blood and soil of the sacrifices were carried into it f642 . This brook was but about three feet over from bank to bank, and in the summer time was quite dry, and might be walked over dry shod; and is therefore by Josephus sometimes called the brook of Kidron f643 , and sometimes the valley of Kidron f644 : in this valley were corn fields; for hither the sanhedrim sent their messengers to reap the sheaf of the firstfruits, which always was to be brought from a place near to Jerusalem f645 ; and it is very likely that willows grew by the brook, from whence they might fetch their willow branches at the feast of tabernacles; for the Jews say f646 , there is a place below Jerusalem called Motza, (in the Gemara it is said to be Klamia or Colonia,) whither they went down and gathered willow branches; it seems to be the valley of Kidron, which lay on the east of Jerusalem, between that and the Mount of Olives f647 ; it had fields and gardens adjoining to it; (see 2 Kings 23:4).
So we read of a garden here, into which Christ immediately went, when he passed over this brook. The blood, the filth and soil of it, which so discoloured the water, as to give it the name of the Black Brook, used to be sold to the gardeners to dung their gardens with f648 . It was an emblem of this world, and the darkness and filthiness of it, and of the exercises and troubles of the people of God in it, which lie in the way to the heavenly paradise and Mount of Zion, through which Christ himself went, drinking of the brook in the way, ( <19B007> Psalm 110:7); and through which also all his disciples and followers enter into the kingdom of heaven: it may also be a figure of the dark valley of the shadow of death, through which Christ and all his members pass to the heavenly glory. And I see not why this black and unclean brook may not be a representation of the pollutions and defilements of sin; which being laid on Christ when he passed over it, made him so heavy and sore amazed in the human nature, as to desire the cup might pass from him. Once more let it be observed, that it was the brook David passed over when he fled from his son Absalom; in this David was a type of Christ, as in other things: Absalom represented the people of the Jews, who rejected the Messiah, and rebelled against him; Ahithophel, Judas, who betrayed him; and the people that went with David over it, the disciples of our Lord; only there was this difference; there was a father fleeing from a son, here a son going to meet his fathers wrath; David and his people wept when they went over this brook, but so did not Christ and his disciples; the sorrowful scene to them both began afterwards in the garden. This black brook and dark valley, and it being very late at night when it was passed over, all add to that dark dispensation, that hour of darkness, which now came upon our Lord; yet he went forth over it of his own accord, willingly and cheerfully; not being forced or compelled by any; and his disciples with him, not to be partners of his sufferings, but to be witnesses of them, and to receive some knowledge and instruction from what they should see and hear: where was a garden into which he entered; and his disciples : there were no orchards nor gardens within the city of Jerusalem, but rose gardens, which were from the times of the prophets f649 ; all others were without; and this was a very proper place for gardens, where so much dung was near at hand. Whether this garden belonged to one of Christs friends, is not certain; but since he often resorted hither, no doubt it was with the leave, and by the consent of the proprietor of it. However, so it was, that as the first Adams disobedience was committed in a garden, the second. Adams obedience to death for sin, began here; and as the sentence of death, on account of sin, was passed in a garden, it began to be executed in one.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-12 - Sin began in the garden of Eden, there the curse was pronounced, ther the Redeemer was promised; and in a garden that promised Seed entere into conflict with the old serpent. Christ was buried also in a garden Let us, when we walk in our gardens, take occasion from thence to mediate on Christ's sufferings in a garden. Our Lord Jesus, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and asked, Whom seek ye When the people would have forced him to a crown, he withdrew, ch 6:15, but when they came to force him to a cross, he offered himself for he came into this world to suffer, and went to the other world to reign. He showed plainly what he could have done; when he struck the down he could have struck them dead, but he would not do so. It mus have been the effect of Divine power, that the officers and soldier let the disciples go away quietly, after the resistance which had bee offered. Christ set us an example of meekness in sufferings, and pattern of submission to God's will in every thing that concerns us. It is but a cup, a small matter. It is a cup that is given us; suffering are gifts. It is given us by a Father, who has a father's authority and does us no wrong; a father's affection, and means us no hurt. From the example of our Saviour we should learn how to receive our lighte afflictions, and to ask ourselves whether we ought to oppose ou Father's will, or to distrust his love. We were bound with the cords of our iniquities, with the yoke of our transgressions. Christ, being mad a sin-offering for us, to free us from those bonds, himself submitte to be bound for us. To his bonds we owe our liberty; thus the Son make us free.
Greek Textus Receptus
ταυτα 5023 D-APN ειπων 2036 5631 V-2AAP-NSM ο 3588 T-NSM ιησους 2424 N-NSM εξηλθεν 1831 5627 V-2AAI-3S συν 4862 PREP τοις 3588 T-DPM μαθηταις 3101 N-DPM αυτου 846 P-GSM περαν 4008 ADV του 3588 T-GSM χειμαρρου 5493 N-GSM των 3588 T-GPM κεδρων 2748 N-PRI οπου 3699 ADV ην 2258 5713 V-IXI-3S κηπος 2779 N-NSM εις 1519 PREP ον 3739 R-ASM εισηλθεν 1525 5627 V-2AAI-3S αυτος 846 P-NSM και 2532 CONJ οι 3588 T-NPM μαθηται 3101 N-NPM αυτου 846 P-GSM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
1. Compare Matt. xxvi. 30; 36-46; Mark xiv. 26; 32 42; Luke xxii. 39-46. 1. Brook (ceimarrou). From ceima, winter, and rJew, to flow. Properly, a winter torrent. Only here in the New Testament. Rev., in margin, ravine. In classical Greek it occurs in Demosthenes in the sense of a drain or conduit. It may be taken as equivalent to the Arabic wady, which means a stream and its bed, or properly, the valley of a stream even when the stream is dry.
Kidron (Kedrwn). Which might also be rendered of the cedars, which some editors prefer. There is some uncertainty as to the exact meaning of the word cedar, which occurs frequently, some supposing it to be a general name for the pine family. A tree of dark foliage is mentioned in the Talmud by the name of cedrum. The ravine of Kidron separated the Mount of Olives from the Temple-Mount. Westcott cites from Derenbourg ("On the History and Geography of Palestine") a passage of the Talmud to the effect that on the Mount of Olives there were two cedars, under one of which were four shops for the sale of objects legally pure; and that in one of them pigeons enough were sold for the sacrifices of all Israel. He adds: "Even the mention of Kidron by the secondary and popular name of 'the ravine of the cedars' may contain an allusion to a scandal felt as a grievous burden at the time when the priests gained wealth by the sale of victims by the two cedars." The Kidron is the brook over which David passed, barefoot and weeping, when fleeing from Absalom (2 Samuel xv. 23-30). There King Asa burned the obscene idol of his mother (1 Kings xv. 13). It was the receptacle for the impurities and abominations of idol-worship, when removed from the temple by the adherents of Jehovah (2 Chron. xxix. 16); and, in the time of Josiah, was the common cemetery of the city (2 Kings xxiii. 6). In the vision of Ezekiel (xlvii. 5, 6, 7) he goes round to the eastern gate of the temple, overhanging the defile of Kidron, and sees the waters rushing down into the valley until the stream becomes a mighty river.
A garden. Neither John nor Luke give the name Gethsemane.
2-12. Compare Matt. xxvi. 47-56; Mark xvi. 43-52; Luke xxii. 47-53.
