Dictionaries :: Dedicate, Dedication

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Dedicate, Dedication:

primarily means "to make new, to renew" (en, "in," kainos, "new"), as in the Sept. of 2Ch 15:8; then, to initiate or "dedicate," Hbr 9:18, with reference to the first Covenant, as not "dedicated" without blood; in Hbr 10:20, of Christ's "dedication" of the new and living way (AV, "consecrated;" RV, "dedicated").
See CONSECRATE. In the Sept. it has this meaning in Deu 20:5; 2Ch 7:5; Isa 16:11; 41:1; 45:16, "keep a feast (to Me)."

Dedicate, Dedication:

akin to A, frequent in the Sept., in the sense of "dedication," became used particularly for the annual eight days' feast beginning on the 25th of Chisleu (mid. of Dec.), instituted by Judas Maccabaeus, 164, B.C., to commemorate the cleansing of the Temple from the pollutions of Antiochus Epiphanes; hence it was called the Feast of the Dedication, Jhn 10:22. This Feast could be celebrated anywhere. The lighting of lamps was a prominent feature; hence the description "Feast of Lights." Westcott suggests that Jhn 9:5 refers to this.