Appointed time
חֲנֻכָּה
The feast of dedication
Widely kept, but not found in the Hebrew Bible. Included here because readers look for it, and because where a festival comes from is worth knowing.
In one minute
An eight day winter festival marking the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after it had been desecrated. It is not commanded anywhere in the Hebrew Bible; its events fall centuries after the latest book in it, and the account is in the books of Maccabees.
Why this matters to anyone
At its core this is a festival about repairing something that was defiled rather than founding something new. That is a less glamorous subject than a victory, and a more common human situation.
It is included on this site precisely because it is the exception. Knowing which of your traditions come from a text and which come from history does not weaken them; it just means you know what you are holding.
Read the text
Start with the words themselves, before anyone explains them to you.
This is the one entry here that is not an appointed time of the Hebrew Bible. Neither Leviticus 23 nor any book of the Tanakh establishes it, and its events fall centuries after the latest of them.
The account of the rededication of the temple is in the books of Maccabees, which sit outside the Hebrew Bible and are treated differently by different communities. A feast of dedication in winter is also referred to in the New Testament, at John 10:22.
Not an appointed time of the Hebrew Bible. The events are recorded in the books of Maccabees, which sit outside the Tanakh.
“’Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him: When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the candlestick.’”
“And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.”
Learn three words
You do not need Hebrew to read well, but these few change what you can see.
- חֲנֻכָּהchanukahdedication
- The same word used in Numbers 7 and 2 Chronicles 7 for dedicating an altar.
- מְנוֹרָהmenorahlampstand
- The seven branched lamp of the sanctuary. The festival lamp has nine branches and is a later object.
Notice what is odd
The details that do not quite fit are usually where the meaning is.
Outside the Tanakh
There is no command for it in the Hebrew Bible. Saying so is not a judgement on the festival, only a statement about where it is written down.
Dedication is a biblical idea
Rededicating an altar or a house after defilement or completion appears in Chronicles and elsewhere, and that is the older pattern this festival stands in.
Light as the surviving image
The lamp in the sanctuary is described in Exodus and Numbers, and the later festival attaches its imagery to that older furniture.
How it is kept
What the text requires, and what tradition added afterwards. Worth telling apart in both directions.
- How it is kept
- Eight nights, with one additional light kindled each night on a nine branched lamp. Foods fried in oil are traditional, and in many places children play a game with a spinning top.
- Where the eight days come from
- The books of Maccabees describe an eight day dedication. The familiar story of one day's oil lasting eight is later still, appearing in rabbinic sources rather than in Maccabees.
- A word on scale
- In Jewish law this is a minor festival, with no prohibition on work. Its prominence in some countries has more to do with its proximity to Christmas than with its standing in the tradition.
Questions to sit with
Do not answer these quickly. A study that ends in a better question has gone further than one that ends in a tidy answer.
- 01
What is the difference between a festival commanded in scripture and one established by later history?
- 02
Why might a community want to mark a rededication rather than a founding?
- 03
Where else does the Hebrew Bible describe cleansing and restarting a place of worship?
Common questions
Open any that apply to you. Skipping this step is fine.
Why is it not in the Bible?
The events happened in the second century before the common era, after the Hebrew Bible had taken shape. The books that record them were not included in the Tanakh.
Is the oil story historical?
It appears in rabbinic literature centuries later, not in the earliest accounts, which describe the rededication and an eight day celebration without it.
Is it the Jewish Christmas?
No. They are unrelated in origin, meaning and importance. The comparison is an accident of the calendar.
Go further
Pick the one that matches the time you actually have.
Ten minutes
Read Numbers 8:1 to 4 and 2 Chronicles 7:1 to 10 to see the older pattern of dedication.
An evening
Read Exodus 25:31 to 40 on the lampstand, then ask what a later festival was reaching for when it borrowed that image.
A week
Read 1 Maccabees 4 alongside the biblical dedications, keeping in mind that it sits outside the Hebrew Bible.
Every passage on this page
- Exodus 25:31 to 40
- Numbers 7
- Numbers 8:1 to 4
- 2 Chronicles 7:1 to 10
For a method you can use on any passage, see the method, or check the calendar for what is next.
Check yourself
Four questions, answered by clicking. You get the reason either way, so being wrong is useful.
Question 1 of 4
Is this festival commanded in the Hebrew Bible?