King’s Valley
King’s Valley is a location mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as intersection of Kidron Valley and Valley of Hinnom. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
The King's Valley, also known as the Valley of Shaveh, appears in two significant Old Testament passages. Its first mention occurs in Genesis 14:17, where the king of Sodom came out to meet Abraham in the Valley of Shaveh ("the King's Valley") after Abraham's victorious rescue of Lot from the coalition of Mesopotamian kings. It was here that the mysterious priest-king Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine and blessed Abraham, receiving a tenth of the spoils in return (Genesis 14:18-20). This encounter carries profound theological significance, as Melchizedek foreshadows Christ's eternal priesthood (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7). The valley appears again in 2 Samuel 18:18, where Absalom had previously erected a monument to himself in the King's Valley because he had no son to carry on his name. This pillar, known as Absalom's Monument, served as a memorial to his legacy. The contrast between these two events is striking: one celebrates humble faith and divine blessing, the other memorializes human pride.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The King's Valley is traditionally identified with the confluence of the Kidron Valley and the Valley of Hinnom, just south of ancient Jerusalem. Some scholars place it in the broader Kidron Valley area east of the City of David. A monumental pillar tomb in the Kidron Valley has long been called "Absalom's Pillar" or "Absalom's Tomb," though it actually dates to the 1st century BCE, roughly a millennium after Absalom. Josephus (Antiquities 7.10.3) mentions Absalom's monument as being two stadia from Jerusalem. Archaeological investigation of the valley junction has been complicated by centuries of fill and construction, but excavations have confirmed extensive use of the area for burial and agriculture from the Bronze Age onward.
Verse Appearances (2)
Gen
2Sam
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]