Dedication, a religious ceremony, whereby anything is dedicated or consecrated to the service of God; and it appears to have originated in the desire to commence, with peculiar solemnity, the practical use and application of whatever had been set apart to the divine service. Thus Moses dedicated the Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Exodus 40; Numbers 7); Solomon his temple (1 Kings 8); the returned exiles theirs (); Herod his. The Maccabees, having cleansed the temple from its pollutions under Antiochus Epiphanes, again dedicated the altar (), and an annual festival was established in commemoration of the event. This feast was celebrated not only at Jerusalem, but everywhere throughout the country; in which respect it differed from the feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, which could only be observed at Jerusalem.
In , we are told that Jesus was at Jerusalem, walking in Solomon's porch at the time of 'the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.' This is usually supposed to have been the feast commemorating the dedication by Judas Maccabæus, which was celebrated in the month Chisleu, about the winter solstice (answering to the 15th of December). There seems no reason to disturb this conclusion; for the dedication of Solomon's temple was in the seventh month, or autumn; that of Zerubbabel's temple in the month Adar, in the spring; and, although that of Herod's temple was in the winter, we know not that it was celebrated by an annual feast, while the Maccabæan dedication was a festival much observed in the time of Christ.
Not only were sacred places thus dedicated; but some kind of dedicatory solemnity was observed with respect to cities, walls, gates, and even private houses (; Psalms 30 title; ). We may trace the continuance of these usages in the custom of consecrating or dedicating churches and chapels; and in the ceremonies connected with the 'opening' of roads, markets, bridges, etc., and with the launching of ships.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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