What is the Feast of Dedication?

John 10:22–23 ESV At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

John 10:22 mentions a “Feast of Dedication”. However, this feast is not found in the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament). So then, where did it come from?

During the second century BCE, the land of Israel was called Judea. It was a part of the Greek Seleucid Kingdom. In 168 BCE, the king of the Seleucid Kingdom was a man named Antiochus Epiphanes. He commanded the Jews to stop practicing their religion. He set up an altar to the Greek gods in the Temple, and defiled the altar that was dedicated to YHWH.

Because of this, the Jews rebelled against the Seleucid Kingdom. The rebellion was successful, The Jews drove the Seleucids out from Judea, and set up an independent Jewish state in Judea. The Jews’ first priority was to cleanse the Temple. They destroyed the altar in the Temple and built a new altar. Then, they dedicated the altar to YHWH.

Today, Jews celebrate the Feast of Dedication to remember this story. It falls on the 25th day of the 9th month on the Jewish calendar. This date often falls in the month of December in the common (Gregorian) calendar.

Today, the Feast of Dedication is more commonly known by its Hebrew name, Hanukkah. It comes from the Hebrew word ḥănukkāh (חֲנֻכָּה), meaning “dedication”. This word is used in the Jewish Scriptures for the “dedication” of the Temple and the altar of sacrifice to YHWH (Num. 7:10; 2 Chron. 7:9; Ezra 6:16).