OF.
3. The tenth day of the seventh month was the Day of Atonempnt — a daj' of abstinence, a day of holj' con- vocation, in which all were to afflict themselves. Spe- cial offerings were made (Lev. xxiii, 26-S2 ; xvi, 1, 34 ; Numb, xxix, 7-11; Exod.xxx.lO). See Atonement, Day of.
II. Addifional Post-exilian Festivals. — 1. The term ^' the. fcfitiral of the Basket" (^toprt) KapraWov') is ap- plied by Philo (0pp. V, 51) to the offering of the first- fruits described in Deut. xxvi, 1-11, and occurring on the IGth of the first month (Nisan). See First- fruits.
2. The Festival of A era , which was instituted liy Si- mon Maccabaeus, B.C. 141, to be celebrated on the 23d of the second month (Ijar), in commemoration of the capture and ]iurifying of Acra (q. v.), and the expul- sion of the Hellenists from Jerusalem (1 Mace, xiii, 50-52). See Maccabees.
3. The Festival of Wood-carrying, as it was called (topn) riov ^v\o(l)api(u7>), is mentioned by Josephus ( War, ii, 17, 6) and the Mishna (TaanHh, iv^ 5). What appears to have been its origin is found in Neh. x, 34. It was celebrated on the 15th (21st) of the fifth month (Ab). See Xveopiioria.
4. The Festival of Water -draiving (M'^S m^ob nnxi'i'vj), which was held on the 22d of the seventh month (Tisri), the last daj' of the feast of Tabernacles (comp. John vii, 37 ; Mishna, Siicca, iv, 9 ; v, 1-3 ; see Frey, Do aquce libatione infesto tahernaculorum, Altorf, 1744). Sec SiLOAM.
5. The Festival of Dedication was appointed by Ju- das MaccabiBus on occasion of the purification of the Temple and reconstruction of the altar after they had been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes. The hatred of this monarcli towards the Jews had been manifest- ed in various waj's : he forbade their children to be circumcised, restrained them in the exercise of their religion, killed man}' who disobeyed his mandates, burnt the books of the law, set up idolatry, carried off the altar of incense, the shew-bread table, and the golden candlestick, with the other vessels and treas- ures of tiie Temple, and went to such extremes as to sacrifice a sow upon the altar of bm-nt-ofteriuijs, build a heathen altar on the top of that sacred pile, and with broth of swine's flesh to sprinkle the courts and the Temple (1 Mace, i ; 2 Mace, v ; Prideaux, sidj A.C. 167-8, 170). The new dedication took place on the 25th day of the ninth month, called Kisleu, in the year before Christ 170. This would l;e in December. The day was chosen as being that on which Antiochus, three years before, had polluted the altar by heatlien sacrifices. Tlie joy of the Israelites must have been great on the occasion, and well may they have pro- longed the observance of it for eight days. A general illumination formed a part of the festival, whence it obtained the name of the feast of Lights. In John x, 22 this festival is alluded to when our Lord is said to have been present at the feast of Dedication. The his- torian marks the time by stating " it was winter." (Compare 1 Mace, iv, 52-59; Mishna, Taanith, ii, 10; J/oefZ A'c/to?;, iii, 9 ; Josephus, ^4 «/. xii, 7, 7 ; yl;). ii, 39.) See Dedication, Feast of.
6. The Festival of Nicanor, to commemorate the de- feat by Judas Maccabceus of the Greeks when the Jews "smote off Nicanor's head and his right hand which he stretched out so proudly," caused "the people to io;oice greatly, and tliey kept that day a day of great jladness ; moreover, they ordained to keep j'carly tiiis day, being the tliirteenth day of Adar" — the twelfth month (1 Mace, vii, 47 ; Josephus, Ant. xii, 10, 6 ; Taa- nith, xii ; Talm. Jems. Taanilh, ii, 13 ; Josippon ben- Gorion, iii, 22, p. 244, ed. Breith.). See Nicanor.
7. The Festival ofPurim or of Lots originated in the gratitude of the Jews in escaping the plot of Haman designed for their destruction. It took its name fiom the lots which were cast before Haman by the astrolo- gers, who knew his hatred against Mordecai and his wish to destroy his family and nation (Ei-ther iii, 7 ; ix, 2, 5). The feast was suggested by Esther and Mor- decai, and was celebrated on the 13th, 14th, and loth days of the twelfth month (Adar). The 13th was a fast, being the day on which the Jews were to have been destroyed ; and the 11th and 15th were a feast held in commemoration of their deliverance (see 2 Mace. XV, 30). The fast is called the Fast of Esther, and the feast still holds the name of Purim. Prideaux (Connex.') styles it the bacchanalia of the Jews. See Purim.
The slaughter of Holofernes by the hand of Judith, the consequent defeat of the Assyrians, and the liber- ation of the Jews, were commemorated by the institu- tion of a festival (Judith xiv, xv). See Holofernes. Some other minor festivals may be found noticed in Brown's Antiquities, i,586, and in Simon's Dictionnaire de la Bible, ai-t. "Fetes." — Kitto, s. v.; Smith, s. v. See Calendar, Jewish.
Literature. — Josephus, Ant. n-u\, xiii-xvii ; War, ii, 3, 1, and many other places ; Philo, De Septenario et Festis diehiis (vitpi rtic'KlSSopijQ, Op. vol. v, p. 21, edit, Tauch.) ; the IVIishna, Tracts respecting the Festivals, or "I"Ta "i"lO ; especiall}' the Talmudical tract Chagiga (Jlishna, ii, 12), sice de trib. festis solemn, c. vers, et Bartenorm comment, (edit. Ludovici, Lips. 1696, 1712) ; also Hottinger, De trina compuritione Israel, coram Domino (Marb. 1707) ; Otho, Lex Rabb. p. 288 ; John- ston, Defstis Ilebrceor. it Grcecor. (Vratisl. 1660 ; Jeu.