Charles Ellicott Commentary John 18:1

"When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where was a garden, into which he entered, himself and his disciples." — John 18:1 (ASV)

He went forth with his disciples—that is, He went forth from the city. (Compare John 14:31.)

The brook Cedron.—The Greek words mean exactly “the winter torrent Kedron,” and occur again in the LXX of 2 Samuel 15:23 and 2 Kings 15:13. The name is formed from a Hebrew word which means “black.” The torrent was the “Niger” of Judaea, and was so called from the colour of its turbid waters, or from the darkness of the chasm through which they flowed.

The name seems to have been properly applied not so much to the torrent itself as to the ravine through which it flowed, on the east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. Its sides are for the most part precipitous, but here and there paths cross it, and at the bottom are cultivated strips of land. Its depth varies, but in some places it is not less than 100 feet. (Compare article, “Kidron,” in Kitto’s Biblical Cyclopaedia, vol. ii., p. 731; and for the reading see Excursus B: Some Variations in the Text of St. John’s Gospel.)

Where was a garden.—Compare Matthew 26:36. St. John does not record the passion of Gethsemane, but this verse indicates its place in the narrative. (Compare Note on John 12:27.)