The history of Hanukkah
The Feast of Dedication mentioned in the Gospel of John is of course Hanukkah (Hebrew for Dedication: חֲנוּכָּה). Ḥanukkah is a Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. Back then, Jewish people were living under the oppression of King Antiochus IV and Hellenistic pagan practices. Seleucids required full assimilation in all aspects of life: language, arts, lifestyle - everything was to conform to the Greek way of life.
Rededication of the Temple
Antiochus even desecrated the Temple: The altars, the utensils, the golden Menorah were all defiled. When the Maccabees, miraculously, drove out the Syrians and recaptured the Temple, they had to cleanse and restore it. In 167 BCE, the Temple was rededicated to the glory of the God, and eight-day festival, the Feast of Dedication, was established. It happened on Kislev ,25th (somewhere between late November - late December), hence we read about the winter feast of dedication.
The same Feast, the same Temple, the same God
Surprisingly, the clearest mention of Hanukkah in the Bible is found in the New Testament! Not only did Jesus celebrate Hanukkah, but he observed it in the same Temple that had been miraculously rededicated by the Maccabees just a few generations earlier. In our course, Jewish Background of the New Testament, you will discover the smallest details of the Gospels in their Jewish context. Enroll today!
