Anna
Anna (Hebrew: חַנָּה, Ḥana; Ancient Greek: Ἄννα, Ánna), distinguished as Anna the Prophetess, is a woman mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. According to that Gospel, she was an elderly woman of the Tribe of Asher who prophesied about Jesus at the Temple of Jerusalem. She appears in Luke 2:36–38 during the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
From these three verses in Luke, the following is known of Anna:
- She was a prophetess.
- She was a daughter of Phanuel.
- She was a member of the tribe of Asher.
- She was widowed after seven years of marriage (her husband is not named).
- She was a devout Asherite Hebrew who regularly practiced prayer and fasting.
Luke describes Anna as "very old". Many Bibles and older commentaries interpret the New Testament text to state that she was 84 years old.[1][2]
The Greek text states καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοηκοντατεσσάρων, generally translated as "she was a widow of eighty four years".[3] The passage is ambiguous: it could mean that she was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years.[4][5] Some scholars consider the latter to be the more likely option, in which case she would likely have been around 105 years old.[6][7]