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1 Maccabees 4:36-38
New Catholic Bible
1 Maccabees 4:36-38
New Catholic Bible
Restoration of the Temple[a]
36 Then Judas and his brothers said: “Behold, our enemies have been crushed; let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it.” 37 And so the entire army assembled, and they went up to Mount Zion. 38 There they found the sanctuary desolate, the altar desecrated, the gates burned to the ground, the courts overgrown with weeds as in a thicket or on some mountain, and the chambers of the priests in ruins.
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- 1 Maccabees 4:36 After almost three and a half years of intense guerrilla fighting, the insurgents occupy Jerusalem. In the enthusiasm of the liberation, they put an end to the pagan profanation and reestablish the worship of God. This is the culminating moment of the Book. First the sanctuary had to be purified (see 2 Chr 29:3-17), the altar had to be rebuilt, and the constructions had to be restored. On December 14, 164 B.C., the sacrifice is celebrated. As in ancient times, the dedication is celebrated with the joyous participation of all the people. As a testimony of the times, however, is the fact that the sacred enclosure must be transformed into a fortress. This occurrence gives all their meaning to the struggles of the Jewish resistance; it is the reason why the author omits various preceding events that are recorded in 2 Mac 11:13—12:9, and records only afterward the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1 Mac 6:1-17). A new feast is instituted: “Hanukkah,” or consecration, celebrated in December, remains ever popular within Jewish families; it is also called the second Feast of Booths (Lev 23) or the Feast of Lights; it will be mentioned in the Gospel (Jn 10:22).
