1 Maccabees 4:59

Deuterocanon

54 At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. 55 All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them. 56 So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering. 57 They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and fitted them with doors. 58 There was very great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the Gentiles was removed. 59 Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev. 60 At that time they fortified Mount Zion with high walls and strong towers all around, to keep the Gentiles from coming and trampling them down as they had done before.

John 10:22

New Testament

19 Another sharp division took place among the Jewish people because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind! Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see, can it?” 22 Then came the feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem. 23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area in Solomon’s Portico. 24 The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus replied, “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in my Father’s name testify about me.

 Notes and References

"... While the Festival of Dedication is an essential component of 1 and 2 Maccabees and the Gospel of John, it is not mentioned elsewhere in either the Septuagint or the New Testament. The unique focus on this festival points to a distinctive cluster of concerns for the Temple in Jerusalem that places these texts in conversation and debate with each other. 1 and 2 Maccabees celebrate the purification and dedication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in late 164 BCE as a highpoint of Jewish history in the Hellenistic era (1 Macc 4:36–59; 2 Macc 10:1–8). By contrast, the Gospel of John depicts the festal commemoration of this event as the occasion when the differences between Jesus and the Temple authorities reach a crescendo in the Roman era (John 10:22–39). The dissonances between the Maccabean literature and John are accentuated by the dating of the texts. The authors of 1 and 2 Maccabees, who completed their respective works perhaps late in the second century BCE, contemplated the Temple as the vibrant center of Jewish life. By contrast, the final editor who completed the Fourth Gospel around 100 CE viewed the Temple as a memory, the terminus of an era that had ended some three decades earlier in 70 CE, when the armies of Rome invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the sacred precincts ..."

Duggan, Michael W. "Hanukkah and Community Identity in 1–2 Maccabees and John" in Kalimi, Isaac (ed.) Bridging between Sister Religions: Studies of Jewish and Christian Scriptures Offered in Honor of Prof. John T. Townsend (pp. 284-314) Brill, 2016

 User Comments

They celebrated the dedication for eight days ... can you specify what they had to do for each and every day in those eight days?

Anonymous, December 12, 2023, 5:45 am

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