John 10:22

Then came the feast of the Dedication ¹  in Jerusalem. ² 

Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,

At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem;

It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah.

They were celebrating Hanukkah just then in Jerusalem. It was winter.

Then came the feast of the opening of the Temple in Jerusalem: it was winter;

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter,

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

Then came the feast of the Dedication ¹  in Jerusalem. ² 

¹ tn That is, Hanukkah or the ‘Festival of Lights.’ The Greek name for the feast, τὰ ἐγκαίνια (ta enkainia), literally means “renewal” and was used to translate Hanukkah which means “dedication.” The Greek noun, with its related verbs, was the standard term used in the LXX for the consecration of the altar of the Tabernacle (Num 7:10-11), the altar of the temple of Solomon (1 Kgs 8:63; 2 Chr 7:5), and the altar of the second temple (Ezra 6:16). The word is thus connected with the consecration of all the houses of God in the history of the nation of Israel.

sn The feast of the Dedication (also known as Hanukkah) was a feast celebrating annually the Maccabean victories of 165-164 b.c. – when Judas Maccabeus drove out the Syrians, rebuilt the altar, and rededicated the temple on 25 Kislev (1 Macc 4:41-61). From a historical standpoint, it was the last great deliverance the Jewish people had experienced, and it came at a time when least expected. Josephus ends his account of the institution of the festival with the following statement: “And from that time to the present we observe this festival, which we call the festival of Lights, giving this name to it, I think, from the fact that the right to worship appeared to us at a time when we hardly dared hope for it” (Ant. 12.7.6 [12.325]).

² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.