Luke 2:36 (WEB)
There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Luke 2:36–37 (KJV)
36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
Key words
- προφῆτιςprophētis · Greek
- 'prophetess' — Anna (Hannah) is one of the few women given the title.
- οὐκ ἀφίστατο τοῦ ἱεροῦouk aphistato tou hierou · Greek
- 'departed not from the temple' — a life of consecrated devotion.
- νηστείαις καὶ δεήσεσινnēsteiais kai deēsesin · Greek
- 'fastings and prayers' — ascetic worship night and day.
Why it matters
Anna, widowed young, has spent decades in the temple in fasting and prayer rather than remarrying. Pitre offers her as proof that consecrated celibacy existed within first-century Judaism and was honoured by Luke. A vowed virgin such as Mary would not have been unthinkable in that world.
Catechism · 2
The Mysteries of Christ's Life
“The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Lk 2:22-39; EX 13:2, 12-13.
Jesus and Israel
“It was in the Temple that Joseph and Mary presented him forty days after his birth.” — Catechism footnote: Lk 2:22-39.
Fathers and councils · 28
Irenaeus of Lyons
“They also assert that by Anna, who is spoken of in the gospel as a prophetess, and who, after living seven years with her husband, passed all the rest of her life in widowhood until she saw the Saviour, and recognised…” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36.
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Jerome
“On thethreshold of the Gospel appears Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, the wife of one husband, and a woman who was always fasting.” — editor's note: S. Luke ii. 36.
Read the whole comment“O happy the house which is a home of a widowed Anna, of virgins that are prophetesses, and of twin Samuels bred in the Temple!” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36; Acts xxi. 9; 1 Sam. ii. 18.
Read the whole comment“Here I have the company of Anna, the prophetess of the Gospel; and—what should kindle in you more fervent joy—I have gained in three short months what cost her the labor of many years to win.” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36, 37.
Read the whole comment““There was one Anna,” he says, “a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser.”” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36.
Read the whole comment“One was a type of the Church which cuts off the head of the devil and the other first received in her arms the saviour of the world and had revealed to her the holy mysteries which were to come.” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36–38.
Read the whole comment“Her grandmother, Metronia, now a widow for forty years, reminds us of Anna the daughter of Phanuel in the gospel.” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36, 37.
Read the whole comment“…virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36, 37.
Read the whole comment“She admired also the zeal of Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who continued even to extreme old age to serve the Lord in the temple with prayers and fastings.” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36, 37.
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Ambrose of Milan
“A widow, it is said, of fourscore and four years, a widow who departed not from the temple, a widow who served God night and day with fastings and with prayers.” — editor's note: S. Luke ii. 36, 37.
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Augustine of Hippo
“And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him.” — editor's note: Luke ii. 22–39.
Read the whole comment“…they had gone with Him to Jerusalem after the purification of His mother, and when those things had been performed in the temple which are recounted by Luke, inasmuch as the words which were spoken by Simeon and Anna in their prophesyings regarding Him, when publicity began to be given to them by the persons who had…” — editor's note: Luke ii. 22–39.
Read the whole comment“…from her virginity; and she was a widow even unto eighty-four years, who used not to depart from the Temple, by fastings and prayers serving day and night.”” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36, 37
Read the whole comment“And Simeon and Anna were filled with the Holy Spirit, so as to acknowledge the greatness of the little child Christ.” — editor's note: Luke ii. 25–38
Read the whole comment“…in the Gospel concerning the Lord Himself newly born, that Simeon by the Holy Spirit recognized Him; that Anna the widow, a prophetess, also recognized Him; that John, who baptized Him, recognized Him; that Zacharias, being filled with the Holy Ghost, said many things; that Mary herself received the Holy Ghost to…” — editor's note: Luke ii. 25–38.
Read the whole comment“…Spirit that the prophets predicted the events of the future; nor was it so that the aged Simeon and the widowed Anna knew by the Holy Spirit the infant Lord; and that Zacharias and Elisabeth uttered by the Holy Spirit so many predictions concerning Him, when He was not yet born, but only conceived.” — editor's note: Luke ii. 25–38.
Read the whole comment“I say nothing of the aged Simeon, who believed on Him when an infant; of Anna the prophetess; of Zachariah and Elisabeth, who prophesied of Him before He was born of the Virgin; of their son John, His forerunner, the friend of the Bridegroom, who both…” — editor's note: Luke ii. 25–38.
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Tertullian
“On the threshold of the Gospel, Anna the prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, “who both recognised the infant Lord, and preached many things about Him to such as were expecting the redemption of…” — editor's note: See Luke ii. 36–38. See de Monog., c. viii.
Read the whole comment“Let that old woman also hold her tongue, lest she should bewitch the child.”” — editor's note: Luke ii. 36–38.
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Catena Aurea on Luke
- Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Simeon had prophesied, a woman united in marriage had prophesied, a virgin had prophesied, it was meet also that a widow should prophesy, that there might lack no sex or condition of life, and therefore it is said,…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
The Evangelist dwells some time on the account of Anna, mentioning both her father’s tribe, and adding, as it were, many witnesses who knew her father and her tribe.
Read the whole comment - Gregory of NyssaCatena Aurea on Luke
Or because at that time there were several others who were called by the same name, that there might be a plain way of distinguishing her, he mentions her father, and describes the quality of her parents.
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Now Anna, both from the duties of her widowhood and her manner of life, is found to be such that she is thought worthy to announce the Redeemer of the world. As it follows, She was of a great age, and had lived with…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Luke
For the Holy Spirit dwelt not by chance in her. For the highest blessing, if any can possess it, is the grace of virginity, but if this cannot be, and it chance to a woman to lose her husband, let her remain a widow,…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Luke
From which it is plain that she possessed a multitude of other virtues; and mark how she resembles Simeon in his goodness, for they were both in the temple together, and both counted worthy of prophetic grace, as it…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
That is, returned thanks for seeing in Israel the Saviour of the world, and she confessed of Jesus that He was the Redeemer and the Saviour. Hence it follows, And she spoke of him to all, &c.
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Luke
But because Anna’s words were nothing remarkable, and of no great note respecting Christ, the Gospel does not give the particulars of what she said, and perhaps for this reason one may suppose that Simeon anticipated…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on Luke
According to the mystical meaning, Anna signifies the Church, who at present is indeed a widow by the death of her Husband; the number also of the years of her widowhood marks the time of the Church, at which…
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Cross-references · 1
Cited together in Concerning Widows Chapter 4.