Feast|Festival of Dedication
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Ἐγκαίνια names the Feast of Dedication in its sole local New Testament occurrence. John 10:22 says that the feast was taking place in Jerusalem and that it was winter; verse 23 locates Jesus in Solomon's Colonnade.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐγκαίνια (G1456) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ἐγκαίνια names the Feast of Dedication in its sole local New Testament occurrence. John 10:22 says that the feast was taking place in Jerusalem and that it was winter; verse 23 locates Jesus in Solomon's Colonnade.
The BSB source-word alignment has 1 aligned row for this entry. Common renderings include Feast of Dedication (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 10:22. Its strongest book concentrations include John (1).
Ἐγκαίνια names the Feast of Dedication in its sole local New Testament occurrence. John 10:22 says that the feast was taking place in Jerusalem and that it was winter; verse 23 locates Jesus in Solomon's Colonnade. These details establish the scene before people question Jesus and before He speaks about His works, His sheep, and His unity with the Father. The festival name contributes historical and temple-related setting, but it does not itself explain the feast's origin or prove a doctrine of temple replacement, Christian observance, or messianic fulfillment.
A teacher may supply carefully sourced historical background, yet should label that material as background rather than presenting it as information encoded in G1456. John's narrative sequence keeps the setting useful and the ensuing words of Jesus central.
John 10:22 provides the only local occurrence: the Feast of Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
John marks the Feast of Dedication, Jerusalem, winter, and Solomon's Colonnade before narrating the public question about Jesus' identity. Those setting details help readers locate the exchange. They should not displace its center: Jesus points to His works, describes His sheep, and speaks of His relation to the Father.
Because G1456 appears in only John 10:22 in the local evidence, claims drawn from the word must remain narrow. Historical background may explain what the festival commemorated when separately sourced, but the noun alone cannot establish what Jesus thought about every festival practice or require a later observance.
Within John 10, ἐγκαίνια supplies a festival setting for the ensuing public exchange. Any larger historical or theological synthesis requires evidence beyond this single noun occurrence.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Jewish festival commemorating the Temple's rededication after desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes
Jewish festival commemorating the Temple's rededication after desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes
ἐνκαίνια (Rec. ἐγκ-), -ων, τά (ἐν, καινός), [in LXX for HSjrj, II Est.6:16, 17, Neh.12:27, Da TH 3:2 (and cf. ἐγκαινισμός, Num.7:10, al., -ισις, Num.7:88) *;] dedication (anniversary of the cleansing of the Temple from the defilements of Antiochus Epiphanes) : Jhn.10:22.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
1 Greek text appearance shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a renewal, dedication
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
ἐγκαίνια is built from these roots:
John's setting marker is meaningful but limited. It locates the exchange; Jesus' words and works supply its claims.
John 10:22
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain