Feast of Dedication; Hanukkah
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(John 10:22)—an eight-day festival commemorating the purification and rededication of the Jerusalem Temple after its desecration under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Judas Maccabeus and his followers cleansed the sanctuary, rebuilt the altar, restored the vessels, and dedicated the altar on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev in 164 BC, three years after the pagan desecration (1 Macc. 4:36-59; 2 Macc. 10:1-8). The annual feast became known as the Dedication and later as Hanukkah. John records that Jesus was in Jerusalem during this winter festival.