KERIOTH

beautiful eyes, from the dye made of antimony, used to tinge tlie eyelaslies (2 K 9'», Jer 4™).

KERIOTH. — A city of Moab, named in Jer 48"- ", Am 22, and in line 13 of the Moabite Stone. It has been identified with Ar, the capital city of Moab, as that has been with Kabbah — both identifications being pre-carious. More is to be said for Kerioth being the same as Kir-heres of Is 16" and of Jer 483i- ». The latter is a stronghold to this day, and fits in with the suggestion of the passages above that Kerioth was a capital city of Moab, and the seat of the worsliip of Chemosh.

W. F. Cobb.

KERIOTH-HEZRON (Jos 15M).— See Hazoh, No. 3.

KEROS.— Name of afamily of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2" =Neh 7"); in I Es 5™ Keras.

KESITAH is given in RVm as the Heb. word rendered 'piece of money' in the three passages Gn 33", Jos 24'^, and Job 42". No clue has yet been found to the weight, and therefore the value, of the kesitah; but that it was an ingot of precious metal of a recognized value is more probable than the tradition represented by several ancient versions, wUch render it by ' lamb.' A. R. S. Kennedy.

EETAB (1 Es S'»).— Head of a family of Temple servants who returned with Zerubbabel. There is no corresponding name in the lists of Ezr. and Neh.

KETHIBH.— See Text of OT.

KETTLE.— 1 S 2" only. See House, § 9.

KETURAH.— Abraham's wife (Gn 25'-<), or con-cubine (1 Ch 13"-; cf. Gn 25'), after the death of Sarah; named only by J and the Chronicler in the passages referred to; said to be the ancestress of sixteen tribes, several of which are distinctly Arabian — Midian, Sheba, Dedan. Some Arabic writers mention an Arabian tribe near Mecca called QatUra. The old Israelites evidently regarded some Arabs as distant relatives (see artt. Abraham, Esau, Hagak). The name QetUrah = 'incense,' is a perfume-name like Keziah (Job 42").

W. Tayloh SMrTH.

KEY. — See House, § 6. Of the passages where this word is used in a figurative sense the most important are Is 22^2 (cf. Rev 3'), where the key is the symbol of authority and rule; Lk ll"" ' the key of knowledge ' ; and the crux interpretum, Mt 16", for which see Poweb of THE Keys. A. R. S. Kennedy.

KEZIAH ('cassia'). — The name of the second daughter bom to Job after his restoration to prosperity (Job 42").

KIBROTH-HATTAAVAH ('graves of lust,' Nu 113« 33", Dt 922). — The march from Taberah (Nu 11') is not mentioned in Nu 23, but Kibroth-hattaavah was one day's journey from the wilderness of Sinai. It is placed by tradition to the N. of Naqb eUHawa ('mountain path of the wind'), which leads to the plain below the traditional Sinai. W. Ewinq.

KIBZAIM. — See Jokmbam.

KID.— See Goat, and (for Ex 23") Magic, p. 569'>.

KIDNAPPING.— See Crimes, etc. § 7.

KIDNEYS.— 1. Literal.- (1) The choice portions of animals sacrificed to J" included the kidneys (Ex 29i'- 22, Lv 34. 10. 16 49 71 8i»- 2s 910. 19; cf. Is 34«). The term is even transferred (if the text is correct) to choice wheat (Dt32»). (2) Limited to poetry is the use of this term in regard to human beings, and the rendering is always 'reins' (see below). They are 'possessed' (RVm 'formed') by J" (Ps 139"), and are, metaphorically, wounded by J"'s arrows (Job 16"; cf. I92', La 3"). (3) AVm of Lv 152 22' is incorrect: there is no mention of reins; and in Is 11' the 'word so rendered means 'loins.'

2. Figurative. — Here the EV rendering is always 'reins' (Lat. renes, pi.; the Gr. equivalent being nephroi,

KIDRON, THE BROOK

whence 'nephritis,' etc.). The avoidance of the word 'kidneys' is desirable, because we do not regard them as the seat of emotion. But the Biblical writers did so regard them. It was as natural for them to say 'This gladdens my reins ' as it is natural — and incorrect — ^for us to say 'This gladdens my heart.' And, in fact, in the passages now cited the terms 'reins' and 'heart' are often paraUel: Ps 7= 16' 26^ 7321, Pr 23", Jer 112" 122 17i« 2012, Wis 1«, 1 Mac 2^*, Rev 223.

H. F. B. Compston. KIDRON. — A place fortified by Cendebseus (1 Mac 15''- «), and the point to which he was pursued after his defeat by the sons of Simon the Maccabee (16'). It may be the modern Katrah near Yebna, and is possibly identical with 'Gederoth of Jos 15", 2 Ch 28'8.

KIDRON (AVCedron),THE BROOK(»acftai, 'torrent valley,' 'wady,' 2 S 1623, 1 K 2", 2 Ch 33", Neh 2" etc.; Gr. cheimarrous, Jn 18'). — The name of a valley, nearly 3 miles in length, which bounds the plateau of Jeru-salem on the East. It is always dry except during and immediately after heavy rain; it is the same valley that is referred to as the Valley of Jehoshaphat (wh. see) . It commences about li miles N. of the N.W. corner of the city walls, as a wide, open, shallow valley. At first it runs S.E., receiving tributaries from the W. and N., but where it is now crossed by the modern carriage road to the Mt. of Olives, it turns South. Near this spot (as weU as higher up) there are a number of ancient tombs; among them on the W. side of the valley are the so-called 'Tombs of the Kings,' and on the East the reputed tomb of 'Simon the Just,' much venerated by the Jews. The whole of this first open section of the valley is to-day knovm as Wady el-Joz; ('Valley of the Nuts'): it is full of fertile soil, and in a great part of its extent is sown with corn or planted with olives or almonds. As the valley approaches the East wall of the city it rapidly deepens, and rocky scarps appear on each side; it now receives the name Wady SUM Miriam, i.e. 'Valley of the Lady Mary.' Opposite the Temple area the bottom of the valley, now 40 feet below the presgnt surface, is about 400 feet below the Temple plat-form. S. of this it continues to narrow and deepen, running between the viUage of Silwan (see Siloam) on the E. and the hill Ophel on the West. Here Ues the 'Virgin's Fount,' ancient Gihon (wh. see), whose waters to-day rise deep under the surface, though once they ran down the valley itself. A little farther on the valley again expands into a considerable open area, where vegetables are now cultivated, and which perhaps was once the 'King's Garden' (wh. see). The Tyropason VaUey, known now as el-Wad, joins the Kidron Valley from the N., and farther on the Wady er-RabSM traditionally Hinnom (wh. see), runs in from the West. The area again narrows at Mr Eyyub, the ancient En-rogel (wh. see), and the valley continues a long winding course under the name of Wady en^Nar ('Valley of Fire') till it reaches the Dead Sea.

There is no doubt whatever that this is the Kidron of the OT and NT. It is interesting that the custom of burying IsraeUtes there, which is observed to-day (see Jehoshaphat [Valley of]), is referred to in 2 K 23'- '■ '2, and 2 Ch 34*. It is probable that the place of the ' graves of the common people ' (Jer 262«) was also here, and it has been suggested, from a comparison with Jer 31", with less plausibility, that this may have been the scene of Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones (Ezk 37). The 'fields of Kidron' (2 K 23«), though generally identified with the open part of the valley when it is joined by the Tyropoeon Valley, are more likely to have been the open upper reaches of the valley referred to above as Wady el-Joz, which were on the way to Bethel.

The Valley of the Kidron is mentioned first and last in the Bible at two momentous historical crises, — when David crossed it (2 S 152*) amid the lamentations of his people as he fled before Absalom, and when Jesus ' went

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