Jehoshaphat, Valley of: mentioned in Scripture only in Joel 3:2, 12. This is the name
given in modern times to the valley between Jerusalem and the
Mount of Olives, and the Kidron flows through it. Here
Jehoshaphat overthrew the confederated enemies of Israel (Ps.
83:6-8); and in this valley also God was to overthrow the
Tyrians, Zidonians, etc. (Joel 3:4, 19), with an utter
overthrow. This has been fulfilled; but Joel speaks of the final
conflict, when God would destroy all Jerusalem's enemies, of
whom Tyre and Zidon, etc., were types. The "valley of
Jehoshaphat" may therefore be simply regarded as a general term
for the theatre of God's final judgments on the enemies of
Israel.
This valley has from ancient times been used by the Jews as a
burial-ground. It is all over paved with flat stones as
tombstones, bearing on them Hebrew inscriptions.