Following the Presentation in the Temple to the righteous and devout Simeon on the fortieth day of Jesus’ life, Luke introduces Anna. This is typical of Luke’s narrative style, he pairs up the historical events of Jesus’ life to show the openness of the Gospel message. A man and then a woman, a Jew and then a Gentile.
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanu-el, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity,
After the episode with Simeon, Luke introduces Anna who is a prophetess. A prophetess might make many shudder with presumptions of paganism but this was a real role within Jewish society documented in scripture and in their non-canonical writings. Miriam in the Book of Exodus and Deborah in the Book of Judges are described this way. It means what it sounds like, they are a woman who receives direct messages from God in order to guide the people.
Her name, Anna, is the Greek rendition of the name Hannah which means “grace” or “favour.” Considering she is an Israelite and in the Temple, we can assume that Hannah is her real name.
She is the daughter of Phanu-el. Phanu-el means “Face of God”. It was very rare for people to have unique names, especially in Second Temple Judaic culture. Phanu-el is unlikey to be the name of her father but Phanu-el is a variation of the spelling of “Peniel” or “pᵊnû’ēl” (same word/meaning just different spelling because standardised spellings of words is a modern invention) This is an interesting detail because this is mentioned in the Old Testament. In Genesis 32:30 Jacob wrestles with a mysterious figure until day break, this figure blesses Jacob and renames him Israel “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved’” Perhaps this labelling of Anna is that her family come from this place and on top of that, fulfilled Jacob’s incomplete meeting with God.
Anna’s tribal origin is also included, she is of have tribe of Asher. This can be confusing for people as most assume that all the other tribes are gone but suddenly Luke just includes some random person here of a lost tribe. This is a misunderstanding of how this actually worked. There were a minority of surviving peoples descended from the other tribes, but there were no leaders of them and they were massively outnumbered by the Judeans (Tribe of Judah/Benjamin) at the time of Jesus.
Anna is very old, “probaino” is Greek for “advance” and could mean literally “to go forward” but in the context of age it means someone “well on in years”, “advanced in age” which is how it is used here. She lived with her husband from the moment of the consummation of their marriage, this is in line with how Jewish weddings typically went. You did not live together till the wedding night and the wedding night would have marked the consummation of their union therefore “from her virginity”
37 and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
Anna remains a widow “till she was eight-four”. The till used here is the Greek word “heos“. It does not imply a reversal, she is very much still a widow in the following verses. Heos is a particle that denotes a time limit/frame, Luke is describing the moments from her marriage to the present in his narrative. This might seem like an odd thing to pick on but this is the word many (bad) sola scriptura fundamentalists get their modern idea of Mary conceiving children other than Jesus in Matthew 1:25 “but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.” They do not understand how the common twenty-first century use of till/until is different to two-thousand years ago but this passage demonstrates it nicely.
Some suggest Anna’s age symbolizes her completeness in devotion to God and her role as a representative of faithful Israel, waiting for the Messiah. In Jewish numerology, numbers often carry symbolic significance. 84 is 7 × 12, combining the perfection or completeness of 7 with the covenantal or tribal significance of 12 (e.g., the 12 tribes of Israel).
She does not depart from the Temple. To be clear, this as, as with most other references in the New Testament, is referencing the Temple Complex. Herod’s Temple complex was built in concentric rectangular courts, increasing with purity and decreasing in access until you reach the center where the actual Temple was. The Temple itself was for priests only (The Court of Priests), outside of this was for ritually pure Jewish men (The Court of Israel), then for the broader Jewish community (The Court of Women) and the outer most court for non-Jewish God fearers (The Court of Gentiles). The Presentation of infant boys would be in the Court of Women, which is where Anna also resides and this episode with her follows Jesus’ presentation in the Temple.
Anna resides in the Temple complex in the Court of Women, permanently as a widow, this speaks to the cultural and religious practices as it pertains to the involvement of women in Second Temple Judaism. It would be the historical root of the Order of Widows that would develop in the Church as the consecrated religious life for women (Nuns). Anna spends her time in fasting and prayer. Many assume such practices are made up traditions by medieval Catholic piety but it’s in fact an ancient practice of repentance. Considering her piety and life story it is not likely that Anna is doing this for her own sins but as a penance for the sins of her people, something that Jews absolutely believed was a fruitful spiritual practice.
38 And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
“And coming up at that very hour” is a way of saying “at the same time”. Luke is locking this moment with Anna to that of Simeon’s Song where the Holy Spirit revealed the baby Jesus to him as Savior. Anna gives thanks to God for the revelation of the Messiah and speaks of him (Jesus) to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Second Temple Judaism in the first century was in a fever pitch of messianic expectation because of the prophecies from the Book of Daniel
39 And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.
Before they return to region of Galilee and their own city of Nazareth, they “performed everything according to the law of the Lord”. This would be the Mosaic requirements of the first born. According to Exodus 13:2, 12–15 and Numbers 18:15–16, the firstborn male of every family was considered consecrated to the Lord and they had to brought to the Temple for a sacrifice to be made. The general requirement is that of a lamb but poor Jews could offer two turtle doves or two pigeons. The latter is what the Holy Family offer at the Temple. There was also a requirement for a financial offering of five shekels but this is not mentioned in the Gospels. Either this practice fell out of favour, the Holy Family paid it but Luke did not think it significant to mention or because of unique reasons to Jesus, circumstance enabled him to be exempt from such an offering. The second option the most likely in my opinion.
40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Reflecting the verses about the Prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel we have the first of two growth statements about Jesus by Luke, the second one coming at the Finding in the Temple when Jesus is twelve years old. In this case it is when Jesus is forty days old and he naturally (in the sense of human biology) grew and became strong. He is already, at only forty days old, filled with wisdom and the favor of God is upon him.
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