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1 Maccabees gives no reason for Hanukkah's eight-day duration, contrasting with 2 Maccabees which explicitly says the celebration was an extension of the festival of booths because during Sukkot the fighters had been hiding in caves.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Maccabees 10:6
Deuterocanon
5 Now on the same day that the sanctuary was profaned by foreigners, upon that very day it came to pass that the sanctuary was cleansed, even on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which is Chislev. 6 They observed eight days with gladness in the manner of the feast of tabernacles, remembering how not long before, during the feast of tabernacles, they were wandering in the mountains and in the caves like wild animals. 7 Therefore carrying wands wreathed with leaves, and beautiful branches, and palm fronds also, they offered up hymns of thanksgiving to him who had successfully brought to pass the cleansing of his own place. 8 They ordained also with a public statute and decree, for all the nation of the Jews, that they should observe these days every year.
Date: 160–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Maccabees 4:56
Deuterocanon
54 At the time and day the Gentiles had profaned it, even then it was dedicated with songs, harps, lutes, and with cymbals. 55 All the people fell on their faces, worshiped, and gave praise toward heaven, which had given them good success. 56 They celebrated the dedication of the altar eight days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness, and sacrificed a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. 57 They decorated the front of the temple with crowns of gold and small shields. They dedicated the gates and the priests’ chambers, and made doors for them. 58 There was exceedingly great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned away. 59 Judas and his kindred and the whole congregation of Israel ordained that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons from year to year for eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy.
Date: 134–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... First Maccabees speaks of the purification and dedication of the Temple ... whereas 2 Maccabees only speaks of a purification of the sanctuary ... First Maccabees summarizes the activities of Judas and his brothers as a cleansing and rededication of the Temple ..."
Michael W. Duggan, “Hanukkah in 1 and 2 Maccabees: An Intertextual Reading,” in Intertextual Explorations in Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature, ed. Jeremy Corley and Geoffrey David Miller (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019), 185.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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