DEDICATION, FEAST OF THE.After the desecration of the Temple and altar by Antiochus Epiphanes, Judas Maccabæus re-consecrated them in b.c. 165 on the 25th day of Chislev (December); cf. 1Ma_4:52-59, 2Ma_10:6. This event was henceforward celebrated by a feast all over the country (Joh_10:22). It lasted 8 days. There was no suspension of business or labour, and but few additions were made to the ordinary synagogue services. The special feature of the festival was the illumination of private houses, whence came its alternative namethe Feast of Lights. (There were divergent rules for these illuminations in the various schools of traditionalists.) It was an occasion for feasting and jollity: the people assembled at the synagogues, carrying branches of palms and other trees; the services were jubilant, no fast or mourning could begin during the period, and the Hallel (Psa_113:1-9; Psa_114:1-8; Psa_115:1-18; Psa_116:1-19; Psa_117:1-2; Psa_118:1-29) was chanted. The resemblances of this celebration to the Feast of Tabernacles were perhaps intentional.
A. W. F. Blunt.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909