John 10:22,23 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

It was—the feast of the dedication,— As this feast was in winter, it could not be observed in commemoration of the dedication of the temple by Solomon, which happened in the month Ethanim, which answers to our September. 1 Kings 8:2. Nor could it be the dedication of the temple by Nehemiah, which was in the spring. Ezra 6:15. But it was that which was kept in honourof the purification of the temple by JudasMaccabeus. This restoration of the worship of God was a very joyful event to every religious Israelite; and being considered as a new dedication, a great regard was paid to the festival instituted in commemoration of it. The festival itself went bythe name of lights, in allusion to the ceremony of burning a great number of lights at the doors of their houses. They celebrated this feast for eight days successively, beginning on the 25th of the month Casleu. Genesis 4:56; Genesis 4:59; Exodus 10:5; Exodus 10:8. But the latter half of that month falling in with the first half of our December, it was winter, and commonly bad weather at this feast: wherefore to avoid the inclemencies of the season, Jesus (who scrupled not to attend the feast, though it was of human institution) walked in Solomon's portico, which was a stately fabric, inclosingpart of the court of the Gentiles. When Solomon built the temple, finding the area of mount Sion too small to answer his magnificent plan, he filled up a part of the adjacent valley, and built this portico over it; which was a noble structure, consisting of three rows of pillars, of exquisite workmanship, and was called "The Royal Portico." It was supported by a wall four hundred cubits high, consisting of stones of a vast bulk, each stone being said to be twenty cubits long and six high. Josephus speaks of it as continuing even to the time of Albinus and Agrippa, which was several years after the death of Christ. See on Matthew 24:2.Acts 3:11; Acts 5:12.