Ἐγένετο δὲ τὰ ἐγκαίνια. The ἐγκαίνια (Ezra 6:16) was the annual celebration of the reconsecration of the Temple by Judas Maccabaeus after its defilement by Antiochus Epiphanes (1Ma 1:20-60; 1Ma 4:36-57). ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις. The feast might be celebrated elsewhere, and the place may be specified because Jesus had been absent from Jerusalem and now returned. χειμὼν ἦν, not “it was stormy weather” (Plummer) but “it was winter”; inserted for the sake of Gentile readers and to explain why Jesus was teaching under cover. The feast was held in December, the 25th, Chisleu. See Edersheim, Life of Jesus, ii. 226. καὶ περιεπάτει … Σολομῶντος [better Σολομῶνος].

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Old Testament