JOHN 10:22 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.”
Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter — John shifts from the Good Shepherd discourse to the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah, Chanukkah), celebrated in December, marking the cleansing of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 165 BC. The winter setting and the Jerusalem location move the narrative forward chronologically. This feast celebrated Jewish rededication and resistance to pagan oppression, a context that makes Jesus' next claims about His unity with the Father even more politically charged.
Church Fathers on John 10:22
And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication. Encænia is the feast of the dedication of the temple; from the Greek word signifying new. The dedication of any thing new was called encænia.
It was the feast of the dedication of the temple, after the return from the Babylonish captivity.
Or, it was in memory of the dedication under Judas Maccabeus. The first dedication was that of Solomon in the autumn; the second that of Zorobabel, and the priest Jesus in the spring. This was in winter time.
Read all 27 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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