Index 


Kettle A large pot for cooking. The same Hebrew word (dud, "boiling") is rendered also "pot" (Psa 81:6), "caldron" (Ch2 35:13), "basket" (Jer 24:2). It was used for preparing the peace-offerings (Sa1 2:13, Sa1 2:14).

Keturah Incense, the wife of Abraham, whom he married probably after Sarah's death (Gen 25:1), by whom he had six sons, whom he sent away into the east country. Her nationality is unknown. She is styled "Abraham's concubine" (Ch1 1:32). Through the offshoots of the Keturah line Abraham became the "father of many nations."

Key Frequently mentioned in Scripture. It is called in Hebrew maphteah, i.e., the opener (Jdg 3:25); and in the Greek New Testament kleis , from its use in shutting (Mat 16:19; Luk 11:52; Rev 1:18, etc.). Figures of ancient Egyptian keys are frequently found on the monuments, also of Assyrian locks and keys of wood, and of a large size (Compare Isa 22:22). The word is used figuratively of power or authority or office (Isa 22:22; Rev 3:7; Rev 1:8; compare Rev 9:1; Rev 20:1; compare also Mat 16:19; Mat 18:18). The "key of knowledge" (Luk 11:52; compare Mat 23:13) is the means of attaining the knowledge regarding the kingdom of God. The "power of the keys" is a phrase in general use to denote the extent of ecclesiastical authority.

Kezia Cassia, the name of Job's second daughter (Job 42:14), born after prosperity had returned to him.

Keziz Abrupt; cut off, a city of the tribe of Benjamin (Jos 18:21).

Kibroth-hattaavah The graves of the longing or of lust, one of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness. It was probably in the Wady Murrah, and has been identified with the Erweis el-Ebeirig, where the remains of an ancient encampment have been found, about 30 miles north-east of Sinai, and exactly a day's journey from 'Ain Hudherah . "Here began the troubles of the journey. First, complaints broke out among the people, probably at the heat, the toil, and the privations of the march; and then God at once punished them by lightning, which fell on the hinder part of the camp, and killed many persons, but ceased at the intercession of Moses (Num 11:1, Num 11:2). Then a disgust fell on the multitude at having nothing to eat but the manna day after day, no change, no flesh, no fish, no high-flavoured vegetables, no luscious fruits... The people loathed the 'light food,' and cried out to Moses, 'Give us flesh, give us flesh, that we may eat.'". In this emergency Moses, in despair, cried unto God. An answer came. God sent "a prodigious flight of quails, on which the people satiated their gluttonous appetite for a full month. Then punishment fell on them: they loathed the food which they had desired; it bred disease in them; the divine anger aggravated the disease into a plague, and a heavy mortality was the consequence. The dead were buried without the camp; and in memory of man's sin and of the divine wrath this name, Kibroth-hattaavah, the Graves of Lust, was given to the place of their sepulchre" (Num 11:34, Num 11:35; Num 33:16, Num 33:17; Deu 9:22; compare Psa 78:30, Psa 78:31). Rawlinson's Moses, p. 175. From this encampment they journeyed in a north-eastern direction to Hazeroth.

Kibzaim Two heaps, a city of Ephraim, assigned to the Kohathite Levites, and appointed as a city of refuge (Jos 21:22). It is also called Jokmeam (Ch1 6:68).

Kid The young of the goat. It was much used for food (Gen 27:9; Gen 38:17; Jdg 6:19; Jdg 14:6). The Mosaic law forbade to dress a kid in the milk of its dam, a law which is thrice repeated (Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26; Deu 14:21). Among the various reasons assigned for this law, that appears to be the most satisfactory which regards it as "a protest against cruelty and outraging the order of nature." A kid cooked in its mother's milk is "a gross, unwholesome dish, and calculated to kindle animal and ferocious passions, and on this account Moses may have forbidden it. Besides, it is even yet associated with immoderate feasting; and originally, I suspect," says Dr. Thomson (Land and the Book), "was connected with idolatrous sacrifices."

Kidron =Kedron=Cedron Turbid, the winter torrent which flows through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, on the eastern side of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. This valley is known in Scripture only by the name "the brook Kidron." David crossed this brook bare-foot and weeping, when fleeing from Absalom (Sa2 15:23, Sa2 15:30), and it was frequently crossed by our Lord in his journeying to and fro (Joh 18:1). Here Asa burned the obscene idols of his mother (Kg1 15:13), and here Athaliah was executed (Kg2 11:16). It afterwards became the receptacle for all manner of impurities (Ch2 29:16; Ch2 30:14); and in the time of Josiah this valley was the common cemetery of the city (Kg2 23:6; compare Jer 26:23). Through this mountain ravine no water runs, except after heavy rains in the mountains round about Jerusalem. Its length from its head to en-Rogel is 23/4 miles. Its precipitous, rocky banks are filled with ancient tombs, especially the left bank opposite the temple area. The greatest desire of the Jews is to be buried there, from the idea that the Kidron is the "valley of Jehoshaphat" mentioned in Joe 3:2. Below en-Rogel the Kidron has no historical or sacred interest. It runs in a winding course through the wilderness of Judea to the north-western shore of the Dead Sea. Its whole length, in a straight line, is only some 20 miles, but in this space its descent is about 3,912 feet. (See KEDRON.) Recent excavations have brought to light the fact that the old bed of the Kidron is about 40 feet lower than its present bed, and about 70 feet nearer the sanctuary wall.

Kinah An elegy, a city in the extreme south of Judah (Jos 15:22). It was probably not far from the Dead Sea, in the Wady Fikreh.