Anna (, ''Ḥana''; , ''Ánna''), distinguished as Anna the Prophetess, is a woman mentioned in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

. According to that Gospel, she was an elderly woman of the Tribe of Asher who prophesied about

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

at the Temple of Jerusalem. She appears in during the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

New Testament

The passage mentioning Anna is as follows: From these three verses in Luke, the following is known of Anna: *She was a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

ess. *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 File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

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. The Greek text states καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοηκοντατεσσάρων, generally translated as "she was a widow of eighty four years". The passage is ambiguous: it could mean that she was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years. Some scholars consider the latter to be the more likely option, in which case she would likely have been around 105 years old. Marshall, I. Howard,
The Gospel of Luke: A commentary on the Greek text
', Eerdmans, 1978, , p. 123.Elliott, J.K.,
Anna's Age (Luke 2:36–37)
" ''Novum Testamentum'', Vol. 30, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1988), pp. 100–102.

Church traditions and veneration

The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

commemorate Anna as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

, Anna the Prophetess. The Eastern Orthodox Church considers Anna and Simeon the God-Receiver as the last prophets of Old Testament and observes their feast on February 3/February 16 as the synaxis (afterfeast) following the Presentation of Christ, which Orthodox tradition calls "The Meeting of Our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ". Along with

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Sy ...

, the prophetess Anna is commemorated on February 3 in the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church. She is also depicted in

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s of the Presentation of Christ, together with the Holy Child and the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Simeon the God-Receiver. Orthodox tradition considers that Christ met his people, Israel, in the persons of Simeon and Anna.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1st-century BC Christian saints Gospel of Luke People in the canonical gospels Prophets of the New Testament Christian saints from the New Testament Women in the New Testament 1st-century BCE Jews Ancient Christian female saints