Shaveh, Valley of

The Valley of Shaveh, meaning valley of the plain, is the ancient name for the King's Dale — the broad valley near Jerusalem where Absalom later erected his memorial pillar (2 Samuel 18:18). It is mentioned in Genesis 14:17 as the place where the king of Sodom came out to meet Abraham after his victorious return from the rescue of Lot and the defeat of the four kings under Chedorlaomer. It was also the site of Abraham's meeting with Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High.

The identification of the King's Dale with the Kidron Valley or the valley south of Jerusalem near En-rogel has been proposed by various scholars, though certainty is difficult. Its importance in Genesis 14 lies not in its geography but in the dramatic encounter it frames: Abraham's refusal of the king of Sodom's offer of spoils and his receipt of bread, wine, and blessing from Melchizedek — a meeting that the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews interprets as a type of Christ's eternal priesthood.