DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE (Hebr. *hănn-kāh*). – A Jewish festival held on the 25th day of the month of *casleu*, corresponding to December, and lasting eight days, to commemorate the purification of the Temple of Jerusalem that took place in 165–164 BC by the hand of Judas Maccabaeus.
By order of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, worship was interrupted in 168 BC. After the victory of the Jews at Beth-zur, Judas and his warriors first mourned the profanation that had occurred. The defiled altar was removed, a new altar was built, the entire Temple was purified, and then new sacred furnishings were placed within. On this occasion, an eight-day festival was instituted; Judas ordered that it be celebrated every year (1 Macc. 4:36–59; 2 Macc. 10:1–9). The Palestinian rabbis, by means of special letters, enjoined the celebration of this festival in the Jewish communities of the Diaspora. In one of these letters addressed to the Egyptian Jews (2 Macc. 1:1–2:18), Judas is placed, on account of his historical importance, alongside Moses, Solomon, and Nehemiah.
Originally, the focal point of the solemnity was considered to be the return of the sacred fire to the altar for burnt offerings. Later, the festival was linked to that of the pouring of water upon the altar, which was celebrated with the lighting of torches (Sukkôth, V, 3). Because the dedication of the Temple under Solomon (1 Kings 8:2) and Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:4) took place during the feast of Sukkôth, a connection was also established between the festival of the Dedication and that of Tabernacles or Booths. Flavius Josephus describes the festival as *phōta*, while the author of 2 Maccabees calls it the festival of (sacred) fire (*tou pyros*). Josephus believes that the lights symbolized the unexpected help of God (Antiq. Jud., XII, 325). The academy of Jamnia decreed that on the first evening a single lamp should be lit, and each evening thereafter an additional one, until the number reached eight. In the Talmudic period, the story was already known of the miracle whereby the supply of sacred oil for the illumination of the Sanctuary, sufficient for only one day, miraculously lasted for eight days—the time needed to prepare more sacred oil.
In Hellenistic usage, this festival was called *enkálypsis*; in the Vulgate, *Encaenia*. During the week of the Dedication, in the last year of his ministry, Jesus affirmed his divinity in Solomon’s Porch at the Temple (John 10:22–39; “it was winter”).