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• “Hanukkah” is the Hebrew word for “Dedication”, meaning the dedication of the altar, which the Jews accomplished as a result of the Maccabean Revolt. Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights, because candles are kept burning for eight nights. And so today, at the time of Hanukkah, all across Israel and the entire Jewish world, candles or lights are kept burning for eight days to commemorate the victory of the Maccabean revolt.
• The Maccabeans are also known as the Hasmoneans, because the Hebrew word for eight is shmoneh.
• When we come to the New Testament, we find that the Maccabean Revolt was celebrated by the Jews in Israel, almost two hundred years after the event. They had not forgotten their victory over the Greeks - over the infiltration of Greek culture and ‘wisdom’, over the Greek language, and over those things being imposed upon them.