Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 2:36
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher: she was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;
36 40. Anna the Prophetess. The Return to Nazareth
36. Anna ] The same name as Hannah (1Sa 1:20), from the root Chnan, ‘he was gracious.’
a prophetess ] like Miriam, Deborah, Huldah (2Ch 34:22).
Phanuel ] ‘The Face of God;’ the same word as Peniel, Gen 32:30.
Aser ] Though the Ten Tribes were lost, individual Jews who belonged to them had preserved their genealogies. Thus Tobit was of the tribe of Naphthali ( Tob 1:1 ). Comp. “our twelve tribes,” Act 26:7; Jas 1:1.
from her virginity ] I.e. she had been married only seven years, and was now 84 years old. , A, B, L read (for ) which is best taken with “of great age,” the intervening words being parenthetic, a widow even unto fourscore years.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Of the tribe of Aser – The tribe of Aser, or Asher, dwelt in the northern part of the land of Canaan. Why Anna was called a prophetess is not known. It might be because she had been the wife of a prophet, or because she was employed in celebrating the praises of God (compare 1Ch 25:1-2, 1Ch 25:4; 1Sa 10:5), or because she herself had foretold future events, being inspired.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 2:36-38
And there was one Anna, a prophetess
First female testimony to Christ
1.
Excited by long expectations.
2. Based on personal sight.
3. Given with full candour.
4. Sealed by holy walk.
5. Crowned by a happy old age. (Van Doren.)
Anna an example to the aged
Let me recommend to all persons advanced in life her spirit of holy abstraction–an abstraction, not from duty, but from the sins, and cares, and vanities of the world. It is difficult to conceive a more unbecoming, or more pitiable object, than a person, whether male or female, far advanced in years, but still engrossed with the trifles of time. It will not be supposed that it is meant to say that aged believers should not be truly happy and cheerful; but very different is the joy of God from the gaiety of the world; very different is the rational and devout placidity from the unreflecting and ill-timed mirth. The vain attempt to go on as formerly, in defiance of the ravages of time, and the failing of nature; the affectation of the dress, manners, and enjoyments of youth, in the midst of the infirmities of age; the haunt of giddy amusement resorted to with feeble and tottering steps; the wreathy garland on the withered brow; the world still predominant at threescore and ten, or fourscore; the heart barricaded against the admission of serious thoughts, and full of the things of sense, when a very short space of time must shut the scene, and dispel every dream, and fix the destiny for ever;–alas! alas! let who will admire this and call it pleasant, every wise man must feel disposed to exclaim, How incongruous, how absurd, how melancholy, how sinful! But an aged Christian, justly estimating the circumstances in which he is placed, contented, thankful, grave, pious, and consistent–how becoming, how engaging, and how venerable! A very little reflection, too, must suffice to show the impropriety of the aged spending the small remainder of their time in unprofitable amusements, and also the impropriety of others encouraging them to do so. If it be so that some who are far advanced into the vale of tears, spend some hours of almost every lawful clay in any such manner as merely kills the time, it is truly to be much lamented. If indeed their mind be in such a state of dotage as to unfit them for anything useful, there may be some excuse for the habit; but it must be criminal and very hurtful, as long as they are in possession of ability to distinguish right from wrong, and to make any preparation for the unseen world on which they are verging. Far other employments ought to engage them. It was not thus that aged Anna sought her amusement and solace. Let the aged get interested, deeply interested, about the things of God, and they will not then stand in need of any expedients which are, to say the least, of doubtful propriety. Let them, like Anna, as far as strength permits, regularly and devoutly frequent the temple of God. Let them be much in religious exercises at home. Let them speak to others on the subject of religion. Let their lips, which must soon be closed, speak for Christ while they can. Advices from persons of their experience may be well taken, when those from persons of less standing may be despised. Let them study in all things to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour, that their hoary heads may be crowns of glory, being found in the way of righteousness. Thus, that God who hath taught, guided, and blessed them from their youth, will not forsake them when they are old; they shall safely and happily come to their grave in their full age, like a shock of corn in its season. (James Foote, M. A.)
Piety in the aged
I. PIETY IN THE AGED CONFIRMS AND ILLUSTRATES THE PROMISE WHICH GOD HAS MADE OF LONG LIFE TO THOSE WHO FEAR HIS NAME.
II. PIETY IN THE AGED CROWNS THOSE WHO POSSESS IT WITH ESPECIAL HONOUR.
III. PIETY IN THE AGED COMMENDS RELIGION TO OTHERS.
IV. PIETY IN THE AGED FURNISHES A BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATION OF THE MATURITY AND RIPENESS OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. Concluding inferences:
1. We should imitate the pious aged.
2. How thankful should the children of pious and aged parents be.
3. The departure of aged Christians from our midst reminds us who remain that the ranks before us are thinning out, and that we are pressing up to the forefront of the line. We should see to it, then, that we have their piety, and can honour their place. (Preachers Treasury.)
The prophetess Anna
A very beautiful completion of a very beautiful picture. Simeon standing there alone as the representative of humanity is isolated; is there nowhere a companion who may share the riches of this new joy? The other side of human nature must be represented, and that deficiency is made up by the presence of the venerable prophetess. There they stand as father and mother of the whole race, giving hospitality and welcome to Him who came to save the world. They stood, as it were, at the front door of the worlds house, and spake to the young King in the name of the captives He came to deliver. There are some womanly characteristics in this passage which should be noted.
1. Anna departed not from the Temple–persistent, faithful, constant, and thus a woman pre-eminently.
2. She served God with lastings and prayers night and day–self-denial, profound devotion, continual watching.
3. Where Simeon prayed, Anna gave thanks. It would seem as if there was just the faintest touch of self-consideration in the prayer of Simeon, as he wished to be gone from scenes that wearied him; but the prophetess, eighty and four years old, constant through all changes, hopeful through all fears, was willing to linger longer, for she spoke nothing of her own release, but thanked God for His mercy, and comforted many that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Blessed are they who can sing in their old age, and turn all their own experience into comfort for those who mourn. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The story of a lonely womans work
Our text presents us with the picture of a lonely woman, old, and a widow. Could a less attractive subject be chosen? There is something interesting in a young widow; but who cares to look at an old one, whose charms have long since faded, whose eyes are dim, whose hair is white, whose face is wrinkled, and whose hands are tremulous? But there is a beauty that does not depend upon youth, a loveliness that wears well, and cannot be washed out even by tears, a charm that comes in answer to the prayer, Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, Of this beauty Anna, the prophetess, had a full share; and the story of her life, briefly as it is told, is not devoid of interest. Anna, the gracious, as her name signifies, was the daughter of Phanuel, evidently a man who lived as one who saw the face of God. While still very young the maiden was wedded, and for seven happy years youth and love filled her heart with gladness. But at the end of that time the shadow of death passed over the Jewish home and hid the light, and stilled the song, and filled the house with mourning. What was she to do, that young widow with her life before her? She had surely some excuse for joining that innumerable company of disappointed women who talk of blighted lives, and are themselves a blight upon everything that Comes near them. But she let the useful trouble of her life soften and sanctify her. She put her trust in the God of Israel, and received with meekness the chastening of His hand. She took herself and her sorrow to the Temple. And there a new longing and a new love took possession of her;. for were they not all looking for the Messiah, and might not the time of His coming be near? She would consecrate herself to God and to His service in the Temple. Other women could not do it; the sweet clamour of the children, and the wishes of their husbands kept them at home; but she would have her pleasures too, and the joy of the Lord should be her strength. And so the young widow took her place, and day by day, and year by year, returned to it. The sun touched Olivet with golden beams and left it again in shadow more times than she could count. The fig trees blossomed and shed their fruit, the valleys drank up the early and the latter rain, the tender grapes became ripe and were gathered, the corn showed first the green blade, and then the full ears; the feasts came round with their joyous assemblings; and, year after year, Anna was in the Temple, neither wretched nor useless. God gave to her the gift of prophecy. She saw what some eyes could not see, and she had power to utter the Divine revelations which were made to her. Complacently and tranquilly she saw the years pass away until eighty-four had seamed her face, and bent her form. But He whom she had served with such fidelity and devotion had a wonderful joy in reserve for her yet. Coming into the Temple one day, as usual, she heard an unusual sound. Simeon, with tremulous voice, was singing that new song, which has been continued by the Church ever since. In his arms he held the Child Jesus; and, seeing Him, what could Anna do but take up the strain of thanksgiving, and pour out her soul in praise? And then she found that, after all, her work was not over. She had known what it was to wait long, and others were waiting still. She could not keep the good news to herself. She became the first evangelist of His advent in the city of her King, and spake of Him to all them, &e. We are taught at least three things by the brief biography which Luke has written of Anna.
1. What is the best cure for loneliness?–Something to do, and the determination to do it.
2. What is womans work in the Church, and who are the women to do it? More and more every year it is coming to be understood that there are departments which women can excellently fill. There are thousands of devoted women scattered about in different parts of our country who, in quiet places, and by womanly methods, are doing an immense amount of good. More Annas to spend their days in Gods Temple, and speak a kindly word to those who are in darkness: women who have a ready hand to take up any duty which would not otherwise be done–these are the women that are needed. But it is lonely women especially who are called to Christs work.
3. God will most richly reward the services of the faithful. No one knows exactly what the reward will be, for He delights to give us surprises of joy. (Marianne Farningham.)
Occupation of Anna
Anna was of the tribe of Asher, and therefore a Galilean. She was eighty-four years of age, and had thus lived through the long sad period of war, conquest, and oppression which had intensified, in every Jewish heart, the yearning for national deliverance by the promised Messiah. Her long life had been spent in pious acts and services. She had never married again a fact, mentioned by St. Luke, in accordance with the feeling of the day, to her honour, but had been, in the words of St. Paul, a widow indeed, trusting in God, and continuing in supplications and prayers night and day. She might in truth be said to have lived in the Temple; having very likely come from Galilee to be near the holy place, and thus able to give herself up to religious exercises, on the spot, where, in the eyes of a Jew, they were most sacred. Such a woman must have been well known in a place like Jerusalem. Catching the burden of Simeons words as she passed, she too, like him, forthwith thanks God that the promise of the Messiah is now, at last, fulfilled. There could have been few, however, to whom the glad tidings of such a Saviour were welcome, for, though the heart of the nation was burning with Messianic hopes of a political kind, we are told that Anna was able to tell them to all in Jerusalem who looked for a redemption of a higher type. (Dr. Geikie.)
Beautiful old age
Sometimes the sun seems to hang for a half-hour in the horizon, only just to show how glorious it can be. The day is done; the fervour of the shining is over, and the sun hangs golden–nay, redder than gold–in the west, making everything look unspeakably beautiful, with the rich effulgence which it sheds on every side. So God seems to let some people, when their duty in this world is done, hang in the west, that men may look on them, and see how beautiful they are. There are some hanging in the west now. (H. W. Beecher.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 36. Anna, a prophetess] It does not appear that this person was a prophetess in the strict sense of the word, i.e. one who could foretell future events; but rather a holy woman; who, from her extensive knowledge and deep experience in Divine things, was capable of instructing others; according to the use of the word , 1Co 14:3: He that prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification, and to exhortation, and to comfort. So we find this holy widow proclaiming Jesus to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem, Lu 2:38.
The tribe of Asher] This was one of the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel, several families of which had returned from their idolatry unto God, in the time that Hezekiah proclaimed the passover in Jerusalem, which is mentioned 2Ch 30:1-11. Though her family might have been a distinguished one in Jerusalem, yet we find that it was her very exemplary piety that entitled her to be thus honourably mentioned in the sacred history. It is an honourable thing indeed to have one’s name written in the sacred records; but to be written in the book of life is of infinitely greater moment.
Seven years] She was a pure virgin when married, was favoured with her husband but seven years, and was now in all, taking in the time of her virginity, marriage, and widowhood, eighty-four years of age. At such an age, it might be supposed she was reasonably exempted from performing the severer duties of religion; but her spirit of piety continued still to burn with a steady and undiminished fame.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God took care that our Saviours nativity should be fully attested. To the testimony of the angels, the wise men, the shepherds, Simeon, here is added another. It is that of Anna, who is described here by her tribe and by her father. She was
of the tribe of Aser, one of the meanest tribes, and of those ten tribes that were carried into the captivity of Assyria, having before made a defection (under the conduct of Jeroboam) both from the house of David and from the true worship of God. But though the generality did so, yet many particular persons removed, to enjoy the true worship of God, and joined themselves to Judith. Jer 1:4, it was prophesied, that the children of Israel should come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping, to seek the Lord their God. What her father
Phanuel was we read not. She is also further said to be
a prophetess. Such there were amongst the Jews; we read of Deborah, and Miriam, and Huldah, to whom king Josiah sent. They were called prophets and prophetesses who revealed the will of God unto the people; but in the Old Testament it most generally signified, such as God enabled to foretell things which were to come. The spirit of prophecy had much failed amongst the Jews for four hundred years before Christ; about Christs coming it began to revive. This woman seems to have been upwards of a hundred years old, if we account the eighty-four years here mentioned from her widowhood; not so, if we count them from her birth. She was but seven years married, all the rest of her life she had spent in widowhood. She
departed not from the temple night or day; that is, she was frequently there, giving up herself wholly to religious exercises, prayer, and fasting, that she might be more fit for prayer. This woman
coming in at that instant where Simeon took up Christ in his arms, &c.,
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to such as she knew in Jerusalem,
who looked for the redemption of Israel. There is no place where God hath had a name, but, however it be corrupted and debauched, hath a number that keep close to God. God in Ahabs time had seven thousand in Israel; and in this most corrupt time there was a Simeon and an Anna, and also others, who had a true notion and expectation of the Messiah; and these the Holy Ghost taketh more notice of than of all the Jewish doctors, all the scribes and Pharisees, whose names are enrolled, while what these persons said and did shall remain for a memorial of them wherever the gospel shall be preached to the end of the world.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
36. Annaor, Hannah.
a prophetessanotherevidence that “the last times” in which God was to “pourout His Spirit upon all flesh” were at hand.
of the tribe of Aseroneof the ten tribes, of whom many were not carried captive, and not afew reunited themselves to Judah after the return from Babylon. Thedistinction of tribes, though practically destroyed by the captivity,was well enough known up to their final dispersion (Rom 11:1;Heb 7:14); nor is it now entirelylost.
lived, c.she had livedseven years with her husband (Lu2:36), and been a widow eighty-four years so that if she marriedat the earliest marriageable age, twelve years, she could not at thistime be less than a hundred three years old.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And there was one Anna,…. The name is the same with Hannah: so Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is by the Septuagint called Anna, in 1Sa 1:2 and it signifies “grace”; or “gracious”: and as was her name, so was she, a gracious woman; One that had the grace of God herself, and was a publisher of the glad tidings of grace and redemption by Christ, to others; and she was
a prophetess: for though prophecy had ceased among the Jews for some hundreds of years, it now revived upon the coming of the Messiah; and though instances of women prophets were rare, yet some there were, both before, and after the coming of Christ; as Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, and Huldah, the wife of Shallum; and this Anna, at the time of Christ’s birth, and afterwards four daughters of Philip the Evangelist, who were virgins. This woman was
the daughter of Phanuel; it is the same name with Penuel; and which, by the Septuagint, in 1Ch 4:4 is called Phanuel, as here. This man might be a person of some note, or he may be mentioned for the sake of his name, which signifies the face of God, and is the name Jacob gave to a certain place where he had seen God face to face,
Ge 32:30. And now Phanuel’s daughter both saw and gave the light of the knowledge of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, and now beheld his face in the flesh, who is God over all, blessed for ever.
Of the tribe of Aser; the same with Asher; for so Asher is called, as here, by the Septuagint, in Ge 30:13 and elsewhere: and though this tribe was carried captive with the rest of the ten tribes; yet there were some of the ten tribes that returned along with Judah and Benjamin, and were dispersed among them. This tribe had its seat in Galilee; so that though the Jews denied that any prophet came from thence, yet it seems a prophetess did.
She was of a great age: the phrase is the same with that in Lu 1:7 there rendered, “stricken in years”; [See comments on Lu 1:7]. Her age will appear to be great, if it be observed, that she was seven years a married woman, and fourscore and four years a widow, which make ninety one; and if she was married at twelve years and a half, at which time the Jews o reckoned females marriageable, she must be an hundred and three years old; and perhaps her age might be eight or ten years more:
and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity: this is mentioned to observe her chastity, that she was in her virginity, or a chaste virgin, when she became a wife; such an one as the high priest was obliged to have, Le 21:13 and that the tokens of her virginity were brought, which the Jewish laws obliged to,
De 22:15 and that she lived honestly, and honourably, with her husband, during the term of her marriage state.
o Maimon. Hilehot Ishot, c. 2. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
One Anna a prophetess (H ). The word occurs in the N.T. only here and Re 2:20. In old Greek writers it means a woman who interprets oracles. The long parenthesis into verse 37 tells of her great age. Montefiore makes it 106 as she was 15 when married, married 7 years, a widow 84.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A prophetess [] . Only here and Rev 2:20. Asher. That tribe was celebrated in tradition for the beauty of its women, and their fitness to be wedded to high priests or kings.
Of great age [ ] . Lit., advanced in many days.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
ANNA’S PRAISE OF JESUS V. 36-38
1) “And there was one Anna, a prophetess,” (kai en Hanna prophetis) “And there was Hanna a prophetess,” whose name means “grace” or “prayer”, and all that is known of her is what is here related. It is a brief, yet revealing biography. Other prominent prophetesses were Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah of the O.T. and the daughters of Philip, in the N.T., Act 21:9.
2) “The daughter of Phannuel, of the tribe of Aser:” (thugater Phanouel ek phules Aser) “A daughter of Phannuel out of (the) tribe of Asher,” one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and one of the ten tribes that did not return, 2Ki 17:6. A true Israelite, one who received the Christ, Gen 49:20; Jos 19:24; Jos 19:26. Phannuel means “vision of God.”
3) “She was of a great age,” (aute peobebekuia en hemerais pollais) “She (was) having advanced in age,” an aged woman.
4) “And had lived with an husband seven years,” (zesasa meta andros ete hepta) “Having lived with an husband seven years,” for a period of seven years, after she was married, after which her husband died.
5) “From her virginity;” (apo tes parthenias autes) “From the time of her virginity,” evidently at which time her husband died, leaving her a widow for a long period of life.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
36. And there was Anna, a prophetess Luke mentions not more than two persons who received Christ; and this is intended to teach us, that whatever belongs to God, however small it may be, ought to be preferred by us to the whole world. The scribes and priests, no doubt, were then surrounded by great splendor; but, as the Spirit of God, whose presence was not at all enjoyed by those rulers, (203) dwelt in Simeon and Anna, those two persons are entitled to greater reverence than an immense multitude of those whose pride is swelled by nothing but empty titles. For this reason, the historian mentions Anna’s age, gives her the designation of prophetess, and, thirdly, bears a remarkable testimony to her piety, and to the holiness and chastity of her life. These are the qualities that justly give to men weight and estimation. And certainly none are led astray by the dazzling and empty magnificence of outward show, but those who are drawn, by the vanity of their own minds, to take pleasure in being deceived.
She had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity This is intended to inform us, that she was a widow in the very prime of life. She had married young, and shortly afterwards lost her husband; and the circumstance of her not entering into a second marriage while she was in the rigor of her bodily frame, (204) is mentioned with the view of heightening the commendation of her chastity. What follows, that she was a widow of about eighty-four years, may be explained in two ways. Either that time had passed in her unmarried state, (205) or it was the whole period of her life. If you reckon the eighty-four years as the time of her widowhood, it will follow that she was more than a hundred years old: but I leave that matter doubtful. The Spirit of prophecy still shone in a very few, who served as tokens to attest the doctrine of the Law and the Jewish religion, till the coming of Christ. In a state of society so dissolute, the elect of God needed such aids to prevent them from being carried away.
(203) The word rulers ( principes ) appears to be here used sarcastically; for his own translation is,” duquel estoyent du tout destituez les autres, combien que ce fussent les gouverneurs;” — “of which the others were entirely destitute, though they were rulers.”
(204) “ Quum adhuc vegeto esset corpore.”
(205) “ Il y avoit tant de temps que son mari estoit mort;” — “it was so long since her husband died.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(36) One Anna, a prophetess.The fact is in many ways remarkable. We find a woman recognised as a prophetess at a time when no man is recognised as a prophet. She bears the name of the mother of the founder of the School of the Prophets, identical with that which the legends of Apocryphal Gospels assign to the mother of the Virgin. She is named, as if it were a well-known fact, as having been the wife of Phanuel, and she is not of the tribe of Judah, but of Aser. That tribe, then, though belonging to the Ten that had been carried into exile by Shalmaneser (2Ki. 17:6), had not been altogether lost. Some, at least, of its members survived and cherished the genealogies of their descent, as one family of the neighbouring tribe of Naphthali are said to have done at Nineveh (Tob. 1:2). In that family also we find the name of Anna (Tob. 1:9).
Seven years from her virginity.The words are emphasised (1) as expressing chastity prior to marriage, and (2) as excluding the thought of a second marriage.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
36-38. Anna the Prophetess.
36. Anna (whose name is the same with the Old Testament Hannah) was of the tribe of Asher. Her native province stretched its whole eastern side along the margin of the Mediterranean, and included those among the most ancient cities of the earth, Tyre and Sidon. Northward it bordered on Syria. Its pure and healthful climate should have been the abode of piety. When in the deepest stage of Israel’s apostacy Hezekiah sent his messengers to call them to attend the passover, most of the northern tribes laughed them to scorn; but a few families in Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulon humbled themselves and went to the holy feast, 2 Chronicles 30. One is tempted to believe that we have here one of the descendants of some family of that faithful few, whose piety was all the deeper because maintained amid surrounding apostacy.
‘And 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, and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and continually spoke of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.’
This woman Anna was a prophetess, but was also one who genuinely loved God. She was very old and spent her time in the Temple. Her husband had died seven years after their marriage, and since then she had been a widow, and she was now either eighty four, or, if it (less likely) means that she had been married eighty four years, over a hundred. She had no priestly connections but came from the tribe of Asher (her tribe was thus not lost after all!). The naming of her tribe indicates that she is a true born Israelite. But she never left the Temple, worshipping God with fasting and supplications night and day. She was one of a small band of especially choice souls in Israel. Never leaving the Temple may be a slight exaggeration, but conveys the right impression. She was dedicated to worshipping God in the Temple. However it could be that accommodation was given in buildings in the Temple courtyards for such as her, and that she did in fact never leave the Temple, receiving alms from the people. As a prophetess she was probably a focus of attention for women coming to the Temple for guidance in spiritual matters.
‘Fourscore and four years’ is twelve time seven. The idea is probably of the perfection of her dedication. She had been married to a husband for seven years, but her ‘marriage’ to the Lord had been for twelve times longer. No one could be more worthy of welcoming His Son.
And coming up to where they were at that very hour (we may presume guided by the Spirit) she gave thanks to God, and then immediately she went away, her heart thrilled, in order to ‘continue to proclaim’ the news of His coming to all the faithful, those who were especially looking for redemption in Israel. By this we are reminded that beneath all the pageantry and formal ritual and machinations of the Temple, and all the stultifying regulations of the Pharisees, there was still a righteous and godly remnant in Israel whose worship was true and pure and spiritual, and who had not bowed the knee to Mammon or religious bigotry or formalism.
‘The redemption of Jerusalem.’ Compare here Isa 52:9 which speaking of the future deliverance declares, ‘YHWH has comforted (consoled) His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.’ Note how here it ties in with Simeon’s ‘consolation of Israel’. Both have in mind the activity of the Messiah. Redemption in the Old Testament regularly meant deliverance by the exertion of power, but Isa 52:9 is immediately followed by the description of the Suffering Servant Who will suffer for the sins of many (Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12). Thus it includes the deeper significance of deliverance by the payment of a price.
So are described God’s two witnesses to the coming of the One Who will bring consolation and redemption to Israel, the two witnesses necessary for the acceptance of their testimony. And from those two witnesses the word goes out to all whose hearts were especially right towards God in Jerusalem.
Anna the Prophetess Comes To Where Jesus Is In the Temple and Gives Thanks to God and Spreads the News Among the Godly In Israel (2:36-40).
In the larger chiasmus (see on introduction to Luk 1:1) this is in parallel with the revelation to Mary. Here womankind again acknowledge the coming of the Messiah. Luke especially brings out the equal part played by women in the preparation for and welcoming of Jesus.
The prophetess Anna:
v. 36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was of great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
v. 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.
v. 38. And she, coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
v. 39. And when they had performed all things according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their, own city Nazareth.
v. 40. And the Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Simeon was not the only faithful soul in Jerusalem at that time. A prophetess, Anna, whose father and tribe are named, with Luke’s attention to detail wherever it is available, joined the group. She was very far advanced in years. She had been married early in life, but had lived in holy wedlock only seven years, remaining a widow after the death of her husband and spending her time in serving the Lord. Though she was now eighty-four years old, she was one of the first to enter the Temple in the morning after the opening of the gates, and all day long she was a devout worshiper, passing the hours in fasting and praying, and thus showing herself to be a true minister or servant of the Lord. She ‘likewise gave thanks, she took up the strain which had been begun by the aged Simeon, praising God for having sent His Savior into the world, which was in such dire need of redemption. And she thus did not merely serve her own devotion and edification, but she spread the good news abroad. She made it a practice to mention the fact of the Messiah’s appearance to kindred spirits, as many as were still to be found in Jerusalem. For there were still some, if only a few, that were earnestly and prayerfully looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem, through the work of the Savior from sins.
But Joseph and Mary, after they had performed all that law and custom required of them, left the city. And Luke here omits all reference to the flight into Egypt and the sojourn in that country, continuing his narrative at the point where the parents of Jesus definitely settled in Nazareth. Here, in the little hill town of Galilee, the childhood and youth of Jesus was spent. Here He grew up and incidentally developed in physical strength. But what is far more important: He grew in knowledge, He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was with Him, obviously rested upon Him.
Luk 2:36-37. And there was one Anna While these things were transacting, there came into the temple an aged woman named Anna, whose mortification to the world partly appeared by her having lived a widow ever since her husband’s death; which happened while she was very young, for she had been a widow fourscore and four years;as did her piety likewise towards God, by the constancy with which she waited on the temple, both night and day. The meaning is not, that Anna abode continually in the temple, for none lived there except the priests and Levites; but, she attended constantly at the morning and evening sacrifices, (see ch. Luk 18:1.) and was often in the exercise of private prayer and fasting; spending the greatest part of her time in the temple, as we find the apostles doing, Act 2:46. Perhaps she might sometimes attend those anthems, which the priests sung in the temple during the night-watching, Psa 134:1-2 to which David may also allude, Psa 119:62. Some, instead of departed not, read absented not,stayed not away.
Luk 2:36 ff. ] aderat , as at Mar 8:1 ; Mar 15:40 ; also 1Co 14:38 .
After , Luk 2:36 , the copula is not unnecessarily to be supplied, in which case (so usually, as also by Lachmann and Tischendorf) a point is placed after Luk 2:37 ; but this is the subject to which belongs as verb, so that all that intervenes contains accompanying definitions of the subject, namely thus: This one, being advanced in great age, after she had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, she too a widow up to eighty-four years, who departed not from the temple, with fastings and prayers rendering service to God night and day and having come forward at that same hour, offered praise to the Lord , etc. Observe as to this (1) that , Luk 2:36 , is subordinate to the . . .; (2) that at Luk 2:37 there is to be written, with Tischendorf and Ewald, (not as usually, ), so that the definition , Luk 2:37-38 , contains a further description of the woman co-ordinated with the . . .; (3) that (see the critical remarks) without any separation links itself on continuously to the preceding participial definition; finally, (4) that , Luk 2:37 , she too , places Anna on a parallel with Simeon; as the latter had come forward a pious aged man, so she also a pious aged woman.
] Plat. Phaedr. p. 244 A; Eur. Ion. 42, 321; LXX. Exo 15:20 ; Isa 8:3 , al. Hebrew , an interpretress of God, a woman with the gift of apocalyptic discourse, Rev 2:20 ; Act 21:9 ; Act 2:17 . She makes use of this gift, Luk 2:38 .
] consequently a brief and ( . . .) her only marriage, after which she remained in widowhood, which among the ancients was accounted very honourable. See Grotius and Wetstein on 1Ti 3:2 ; 1Ti 5:9 .
(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. (38) And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
This woman was very aged indeed, according to the general age of people in those days. For supposing she had married as early as fifteen, and seven years in marriage, and eighty-four years a widow, she could not be less than one hundred and six years. And yet we find her constant abode was in the temple, in deep humility of soul. The Holy Ghost’s testimony by her of Christ, is worthy regard.
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;
Ver. 36. From her virginity ] i.e. She was a pure virgin when married to her husband. All are not virgins that pass for such; some have their secret conveyances; They can eat stolen bread, and afterwards so wipe their lips that not the least crumb shall be seen, Pro 30:19-20 .
Luk 2:36-38 . Anna. Another aged saint of the O. T. type comes on the stage speaking thankful prophetic words concerning the Holy Child.
Luk 2:36 . : either there was there , aderat (Meyer, Godet, Weizscker), or there was , there lived (De Wette, J. Weiss, Schanz, Hahn). = , 1Sa 1:20 ( in Sept [31] ) = grace. Of this woman some particulars are given, e.g. , her father and her tribe, which makes the absence of such details in Simeon’s case more noteworthy. The two placed side by side give an aspect of historicity to the narrative. (or , the sense much the same) introduces some further details in a loosely constructed sentence, which looks like biographic notes, with verbs left out = she advanced in years, having lived with a husband, seven years from virginity, the same a widow till eighty-four years all which may be regarded, if we will, as a parenthesis, followed by a relative clause containing a statement of more importance, describing her way of life = who departed not from the temple, serving (God) by fasts and prayers, night and day.
[31] Septuagint.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 2:36-38
36And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. 38At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luk 2:36 “prophetess” There had not been any truly inspired spokesperson for God since Malachi (or the writer of Chronicles). Women in places of leadership were not a new or unusual thing in the OT. Miriam, Hannah, Deborah, Ruth, Huldah, and Esther are examples (cf. Act 2:17; Act 21:9).
SPECIAL TOPIC: WOMEN IN THE BIBLE
SPECIAL TOPIC: PAUL’S USE OF WOMEN IN MINISTRY
“the tribe of Asher” This shows the presence of a tribe out of the northern ten tribes who were exiled by Assyria in 722 B.C. in Jesus’ day; some of the northern tribes did return.
Luk 2:37 “widow to the age of eighty-four” This woman had dedicated her life to God after the early death of her husband.
“she never left the temple” This is the kind of phrase that becomes a point of contention among commentators. Some modern believers assert that it must be literal (i.e., she lived there) or the Bible is not true. For me this is obviously hyperbole. She was there during the day and at all special events. Worshiping God was her life. The same issue of literal vs. metaphorical relates to Ezekiel’s lying in front of his house in Babylon for days on end (cf. Eze 4:4-8).
Luk 2:38 “to speak of Him” We are not told what she said, therefore, why would Luke mention her at all? It was to give the evidence of two witnesses required by Mosaic Law (cf. Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15). Both the young (unborn John) and the old (Simeon and Anna) as well as male and female recognized who He was.
“looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” See note at “consolation of Israel” at Luk 2:25. Zacharias also speaks of this in Luk 1:68-74. For “redemption,” see Special Topic at Luk 1:68.
Anna. Hebrew. Hannah, as in 1Sa 1:20 = He was gracious.
prophetess. Only here and Rev 2:20.
Aser = Asher; thus Anna of Israel united with Simeon of Judah.
Luk 2:36. , Phanuel) The father of Anna is named, rather than her husband. He was as yet known as one who looked for redemption: Luk 2:38.-, Aser) See 2Ch 30:11.
Chapter 16
To Them That Look For Redemption
At the very moment Simeon held Christ in his arms and called him Gods Salvation, Anna came into the temple, observed the things spoken by Simeon, worshipped the child Christ Jesus as her Saviour, and testified of him as such to them that looked for redemption. Are you, like those in Jerusalem to whom Anna spoke, looking for redemption? I pray that the Lord God has caused your eyes to fall upon this page because he has caused you to be looking for redemption, deliverance and salvation. If you are looking for redemption, look to Christ, look away to Christ. He alone is the Redeemer of sinners, in whom alone we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
In these verses we read about a godly woman, whose name is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible. Anna, like Simeon, is one of those people mentioned only by Luke. In Luk 2:25-35 Luke tells us about a godly old man who worshipped and testified of the Lord Jesus Christ in his earliest infancy. Here, he tells us of the worship and testimony given by an old woman as she beheld the Lords Christ.
Anna The Prophetess
The name Anna here is the same as Hannah, the mother of Samuel in the Old Testament. The name means grace, or gracious. Anna was the kind of woman her name signifies. She was a gracious woman. She had experienced the grace of God. She was saved by grace, walked in grace and told others about that grace.
This woman was a prophetess. Though prophecy had ceased among the Jews for four hundred years, it now revived as a signal of Christs, the Messiah, coming into the world.
In this day of utter disregard for Gods Word, in which women are being ordained and sent out by almost all religious denominations as deacons, preachers, missionaries, evangelists, pastors and theologians, I must say something about the fact that Anna was a prophetess. Were it not for the universal confusion in the religious world about female preachers, I would pass over these words with little comment. But the fact that such confusion prevails compels me to speak.
There are a few instances of female prophets, prophetesses, in the scriptures, both before and after the coming of Christ: Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, Huldah, the wife of Shallum; and this woman, Anna, at the time of Christs birth. Later, in the Book of Acts, we read about four daughters of Philip the Evangelist, who were prophetesses.
Does this mean that it is proper for Gods church to ordain women as deacons, missionaries, preachers, evangelists and pastors today? No! The Word of God absolutely and clearly forbids such nonsense. The teachings of holy scripture in this regard are so plain that error here is without excuse (1Co 14:34-35; 1Ti 2:11-12). These are offices which, by Gods order, are for men only. This is not a matter of sexism, male chauvinism, or anything of the kind. It is a matter of reverence for God and obedience to his Word.
In all things godly women are modest, gladly living in subjection to their husbands. Believing women are not rebels to God, his order or his Word. Just as men are to be in subjection to Christ and to all who are put in authority over them; just as deacons, elders and churches are to be in subjection to their pastors; just as children are to be in subjection to their parents; women are to be in subjection to their husbands. In the house of God, women serve in subjection to men. They are never to be placed in a position of dominance over men.
What about these who are called prophetesses in the scriptures? Do we just ignore them? No. But we do not build our doctrine on obscure statements. We build our doctrine on the plain instructions of holy scripture, given in the place or places where the subject under consideration is taught. The fact that there were prophetesses in the Old Testament and through the Acts of the Apostles does not nullify the prohibitions given in the Epistles to female preachers. However, when the Word of God speaks of female prophets, and of women prophesying, that does not imply that they were preachers.
The word prophetess may simply refer to a woman who is a worshipper of God, as appears to be the case where it first appears (Exo 15:20), referring to Aarons sister, Miriam. It is also used to describe the wife of a prophet (Isa 8:3). So it does not necessarily refer to a female who stood forth in public to preach. The word prophesy does not necessarily mean, instruct, foretell or preach in a public way. The word is used commonly to speak simply of worship, praise and witnessing (1Co 11:5, and throughout chapters 14 and 15).
A prophetess was a woman who worshipped God, praised him and bore witness to him. As stated regarding Miriam, the word prophetess was used in ancient times much like we use the word worshipper today. We might say of such women, they worship God. That would be the same thing as saying, they prophesy.
The only female preacher ever spoken of in a church in the New Testament was that wicked woman at Thyatira, who called herself a prophetess, but whom our Lord calls Jezebel (Rev 2:20). When God sets women up as rulers over men, it is an act of judgment, not an act of grace (Isa 3:12).
Character And Conduct
This woman, Anna, was the daughter of Phanuel. Her fathers name is the same as that which Jacob gave to the place where he saw God face to face (Gen 32:30-31). Phanuel means the face of God. How appropriate! Anna, Phanuels daughter, saw the face of God in Jesus Christ!
Next, Luke tells us that Anna was of the tribe of Aser or Asher. Asher was one of the ten tribes carried away into captivity. Yet, even in Asher, there was a remnant according to the election of grace. God has his elect everywhere. He preserves his elect, even when he judges their nation. And at the appointed time, he calls them by his grace, and brings them out of bondage, darkness, condemnation and death into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
She was of great age. Anna was an old, old woman. She had lived in widowhood for 84 years! That means, if she had gotten married, as Jewish girls of the time often did, at the age of twelve, and lived with her husband for seven years before he died, she was at least 103 years old. Yet, she was constantly in the house of God, worshipping him, and doing what she could in the service of his kingdom and glory.
The things which Anna did and the things she spoke are here recorded by divine inspiration to teach us, encourage us, and strengthen us in the faith of Christ. And the first thing set before us in Luk 2:35-37 is a picture of the believers character and conduct. Anna was a woman of irreproachable character. She was what the Holy Spirit describes as a widow indeed (1Ti 4:5). This old woman is held before us as an example of true godliness.
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; 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.
She was not a godly woman by nature, but a sinner. She did not make herself godly by austere discipline. She was converted and made godly by the grace of God that was upon her. Grace experienced makes the ungodly godly (2Co 5:17; Tit 2:11-12; Eph 2:8-10). Annas character and conduct are described in simple, but powerful words. She served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
Many, who do not know the gospel, who have never experienced the saving grace of God in Christ and the transforming power of that grace, look upon these things as remarkable, exceptional qualities in a believer. They consider them ideal, but not essential to the believers character. Nothing could be further from the truth. The character described in these two verses, the character of this old saint is not the target at which we must shoot, but the genuine character of all true believers. This is the character of those who are born of God, of those who walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:16-25). Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Rom 8:9).
Anna was also a woman of moral chastity. She was a virgin when she married. Her husband died after only seven years. And she remained chaste throughout her years, chaste and virtuous in an age of horrible profligacy and immorality.
This old woman was, throughout her years, faithful in the worship of God. She departed not from the temple. Obviously, that does not mean that she never left the temple. She could not have come in at that moment, if she had not been outside. This is simply a declaration that she did not, as so many do, forsake the assembly of Gods saints (Heb 10:25). When the doors of the temple were open, Anna made it her business to be there.
You will notice that Annas commitment to the worship of God publicly is placed before her private devotion. Why? Because, when public worship is despised, there is no private worship. To depart from the assembly of Gods saints, to depart from the worship of God is to forsake the Lord altogether. The first step to apostasy is the neglect of public worship (Heb 10:23-29).
Anna was a woman who loved the house of God. She looked upon it as that place where God promised to meet with, reveal himself and speak to his people. Therefore, she departed not from the temple. She was devoted and consecrated to her God. She served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
The Jews had reduced fasting and prayer to empty religious rituals, rituals by which they endeavoured to show their piety and devotion to one another. They considered the outward husk to be the meat. So they threw the grain away and kept the husk. That is exactly the way it is with most religious people. Their religion is all outward. It is all show. They substitute the saying of prayers for praying. They replace devotion of heart with regular fastings.
Most people think of prayer as the means by which we get God to do what he otherwise would not do. They imagine that if prayer does not work, and we really want to get Gods attention and put the squeeze on him, fasting will do the job. That is not the case.
Fasting and prayer always go together. The two are never separated. In the sixth chapter of Matthews Gospel our Lord Jesus tells us plainly that we are not to make an outward show of them before men. Though fasting may involve an abstinence from food for a period of time, and prayer is, in public worship and in family worship, very properly audible, primarily, fasting and prayer are matters of the heart.
Fasting is a synonym for voluntary, deliberate self-denial, consecration, and devotion (1Co 6:19-20). Prayer is the believers communion with, faith in, worship of and submission to the will and glory of God as we walk before him in this world.
Looking For Redemption
And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem (Luk 2:38). Anna loved Christ, her God and Saviour. When she heard Simeons prophecy, she also gave thanks to God for his Son, her Saviour. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift! She spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Israel. She loved him whom she trusted, because she had been made to experience his love for her. It is written, We love him, because he first loved us (1Jn 4:19).
Believers in every age are a people who look for redemption, who look for Christ. Gods people, from the days of Adam and Eve, through all the days and years of Old Testament history, in the days of Simeon and Anna, in the days of the apostles and in this day, are a people looking for the redemption of Israel, the redemption of Gods true Jerusalem, his true Israel. Believers are a people looking for and waiting for Christ the Redeemer, that One who is our Redemption (1Th 1:10; Tit 2:14; Rom 13:11). Our redemption draweth nigh.
Christ is our Redemption (1Co 1:30). We look to him alone and look to him always for redemption. The Lord God always has a people in this world, even as he did in Annas day and in that wicked city, who look for the redemption of Israel, who believe and confidently hope, in the teeth of all that they see, that Christ will redeem, that he will completely deliver all his people from all the consequences of sin, by his sovereign power and effectual grace.
Christs Humanity
And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him (Luk 2:39-40). What a declaration these words are of the glorious humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ!
The child grew in body, and in physical strength and stature. And waxed strong in spirit. As a man with a real human soul as well as a real human body, the Lord Jesus grew strong in his soul. He grew into a man of strong constitution, strong character, strong will and strong affection.
Filled with wisdom he was filled with wisdom as our Surety in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. But these words describe the natural wisdom and the spiritual wisdom into which our Saviour grew as a man.
And the grace of God was upon him. The love and favour of God was upon him as his beloved Son, in whom he is well-pleased. The gifts and graces of Gods Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, was upon him. Ryle wrote
Our Lord partook of everything that belongs to mans nature, sin only excepted. As a man he was born an infant. As a man he grew from infancy to boyhood. As a man he yearly increased in bodily strength and mental power, during his passage from boyhood to full age. Of all the sinless conditions of mans body, its first feebleness, its after growth, its regular progress to maturity, he was in the fullest sense partaker. We must rest satisfied with knowing this. To pry beyond is useless.
Why did the Lord of glory stoop so low? Why did he condescend to such utter servitude? The answer is found in Joh 3:16-17. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
a prophetess: Exo 15:20, Jdg 4:4, 2Ki 22:14, Act 2:18, Act 21:9, 1Co 12:1
Aser: Gen 30:13, Asher, Rev 7:6
she: Job 5:26, Psa 92:14
Reciprocal: 2Ch 34:22 – the prophetess Eze 13:17 – prophesy Act 26:7 – instantly 1Co 7:34 – careth 1Co 11:5 – or 1Ti 5:9 – under
6
From her viginity means from the time she was of marriageable age. She married at that time but her husband lived only seven years after this marriage. Women were inspired in Old Testament times as well as in the New. (See Exo 15:20; Jdg 4:4; 2Ki 22:14.)
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;
[Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser.] There were, therefore, prophets at this time among the people. It is not to be denied that at this time there were; that is, when the morning of the gospel began to dawn: but for four hundred years past there had not been even one that had deserved that name, however the Jews vainly enough had honoured the memories of some with that title; which we shall not meddle with at this present. But was this Anna accounted a prophetess by the Jews; if so, whence that proverbial expression, “out of Galilee ariseth no prophet”? Joh 7:52. She was certainly a Galilean; and for that very reason, probably, it is here remarked that she was of the tribe of Aser.
What think we of that passage in Vajicra Rabba; folio 174.4 and Bemidbar Rabb. folio 250.4, The king Messiah, who is placed on the north, shall come and build the house of the sanctuary, which is placed on the south. Doth not this savour something of Christ’s coming out of Galilee?
THE verses we have now read introduce us to a servant of God whose name is nowhere else mentioned in the New Testament. The history of Anna, like that of Simeon, is related only by Luke. The wisdom of God ordained that a woman as well as a man should testify to the fact that Messiah was born. In the mouth of two witnesses it was established that Malachi’s prophecy was fulfilled, and the messenger of the covenant had suddenly come to the Temple. (Mal 3:1.)
Let us observe, in these verses, the character of a holy woman before the establishment of Christ’s Gospel. The facts recorded about Anna are few and simple. But we shall find them full of instruction.
Anna was a woman of irreproachable character. After a married life of only seven years’ duration, she had spent eighty-four years as a lone widow. The trials, desolation, and temptation of such a condition were probably very great. But Anna by grace overcame them all. She answered to the description given by Paul. She was “a widow indeed.” (1Ti 5:5.)
Anna was a woman who loved God’s house. “She departed not from the temple.” She regarded it as the place where God especially dwelt, and toward which every pious Jew in foreign lands, like Daniel, loved to direct his prayers. “Nearer to God, nearer to God,” was the desire of her heart, and she felt that she was never so near as within the walls which contained the ark, the altar, and the holy of holies. She could enter into David’s words, “my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD.” (Psa 84:2.)
Anna was a woman of great self-denial. She “served God with fastings night and day.” She was continually crucifying the flesh and keeping it in subjection by voluntary abstemiousness. Being fully persuaded in her own mind that the practice was helpful to her soul, she spared no pains to keep it up.
Anna was a woman of much prayer. She “served God with prayer night and day.” She was continually communing with him, as her best Friend, about the things that concerned her own peace. She was never weary of pleading with Him on behalf of others, and, above all, for the fulfillment of His promises of Messiah.
Anna was a woman who held communion with other saints. So soon as she had seen Jesus, she “spake of Him” to others whom she knew in Jerusalem, and with whom she was evidently on friendly terms. There was a bond of union between her and all who enjoyed the same hope. They were servants of the same Master; and travelers to the same home.
And Anna received a rich reward for all her diligence in God’s service, before she left the world. She was allowed to see Him who had been so long promised, and for whose coming she had so often prayed. Her faith was at last changed to sight, and her hope to certainty. The joy of this holy woman must indeed have been “unspeakable and full of glory.” (1Pe 1:8.)
It would be well for all Christian women to ponder the character of Anna, and learn wisdom from it. The times, no doubt, are greatly changed. The social duties of the Christian are very different from those of the Jewish believer at Jerusalem. All are not placed by God in the condition of widows. But still, after every deduction, there remains much in Anna’s history which is worthy of imitation. When we read of her consistency, and holiness, and prayerfulness, and self-denial, we cannot but wish that many daughters of the Christian Church would strive to be like her.
Let us observe, secondly, in these verses, the description given of saints in Jerusalem in the time when Jesus was born. They were people “who looked for redemption.”
Faith, we shall always find, is the universal character of God’s elect. These men and women here described, dwelling in the midst of a wicked city, walked by faith, and not by sight. They were not carried away by the flood of worldliness, formality, and self-righteousness around them. They were not infected by the carnal expectations of a mere worldly Messiah, in which most Jews indulged. They lived in the faith of patriarchs and prophets, that the coming Redeemer would bring in holiness and righteousness, and that His principal victory would be over sin and the devil. For such a Redeemer they waited patiently. For such a victory they earnestly longed.
Let us learn a lesson from these good people. If they, with so few helps and so many discouragements, lived such a life of faith, how much more ought we with a finished Bible and a full Gospel. Let us strive, like them, to walk by faith and look forward. The second advent of Christ is yet to come. The complete “redemption” of this earth from sin, and Satan, and the curse, is yet to take place. Let us declare plainly by our lives and conduct, that for this second advent we look and long. We may be sure that the highest style of Christianity even now, is to “wait for redemption,” and to love the Lord’s appearing. (Rom 8:23; 2Ti 4:8.)
Let us observe, lastly, in these verses, what clear proof we have that the Lord Jesus was really and truly man, as well as God. We read, that when Mary and Joseph returned to their own city Nazareth, “the child grew and waxed strong in spirit.”
There is, doubtless, much that is deeply mysterious in the Person of the Lord Jesus. How the same Person could be at once perfect God and perfect man, is a point that necessarily passes our understanding. In what manner and measure, and in what proportion at the early part of His life, that divine knowledge which He doubtless possessed, was exercised, we cannot possibly explain. It is a high thing. We cannot attain unto it.
One thing, however, is perfectly clear, and we shall do well to lay firm hold upon it. Our Lord partook of everything that belongs to man’s nature, sin only excepted. As man He was born an infant. As man He grew from infancy to boyhood. As man He yearly increased in bodily strength and mental power, during His passage from boyhood to full age. Of all the sinless conditions of man’s body, its first feebleness, its after growth, its regular progress to maturity, He was in the fullest sense a partaker. We must rest satisfied with knowing this. To pry beyond is useless. To know this clearly is of much importance. A want of settled knowledge of it has led to many wild heresies.
One comfortable practical lesson stands out on the face of this truth, which ought never to be overlooked. Our Lord is able to sympathize with man in every stage of man’s existence, from the cradle to the grave. He knows by experience the nature and temperament of the child, the boy, and the young man. He has stood in their place. He has occupied their position. He knows their hearts. Let us never forget this in dealing with young people about their souls. Let us tell them confidently, that there is One in heaven at the right hand of God, who is exactly suited to be their Friend. He who died on the cross was once a boy Himself, and feels a special interest in boys and girls, as well as in grown up people.
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Notes-
v36.-[A prophetess.] This is a remarkable expression, and only used on one other occasion in the New Testament. Rev 2:20. If the word is to be taken in its fullest sense, it seems to show that the spirit of prophecy, which had been withheld for nigh four hundred years since Malachi’s time, was being restored to Israel when Christ was born. But as the word “prophet” does not necessarily imply, in the New Testament, the power of foretelling things to come, so also it may be with the word “prophetess.”
[Tribe of Aser.] This is remarkable, when we remember that Asher was one of the ten tribes, who were carried into captivity, and never returned. We must conclude that a scattered remnant of them were, in some way, mixed up with Judah and Benjamin, and with them returned from Babylon after the captivity.
v38.-[Spake of Him…to all, &c.] It is worthy of remark, that this presentation of our Lord in the temple, appears to have been the primary fulfilment of the prophecy of Mal 3:1, “The Lord shall suddenly come to his temple.” It was indeed a sudden unostentatious coming. The only witnesses, apparently, were an old man and an old woman,-and the only attendants a poor woman and her equally poor husband,-and the form in which the Lord appeared was as a little infant in arms! How little we should have expected this! How many prophecies may be fulfilling around us at this very time! God’s ways are truly not as our ways.
v39.-[Returned into Galilee…to…Nazareth.] Two important incidents in our Lord’s history come in here, which Luke passes over, not necessarily because he was ignorant of them, but simply, because he was not inspired to write of them. Those incidents are the visit of the wise men from the East, and the flight into Egypt. Joseph and Mary appear to have returned to Bethlehem after the presentation in the temple, though it is quite possible that they may have gone to Nazareth for a short time. They, probably, returned to Bethlehem under a sense of duty, as if the Messiah ought to dwell in the place where it was prophesied He should be born. There at Bethlehem, they were visited by the wise men from the East. From thence, being supplied by their gifts with the means of journeying, they fled into Egypt, to escape the anger of Herod. From Egypt, after the death of Herod, they returned to Nazareth.
There are doubtless other views propounded on this somewhat difficult subject. The one above stated appears to be by far the most reasonable, and to involve the fewest difficulties.
If Mary and Joseph had remained at Bethlehem till the visit of the wise men, and after their visit had gone up to Jerusalem, they would have been deliberately plunging into danger, by going to the place where Herod was.
If the presentation in the temple did not take place till after the visit of the wise men, and the reception of their gifts, it does not seem likely that Mary’s offering would only have been a pair of pigeons.
Luk 2:36. One Anna. One is supplied to relieve the English construction.
A prophetess, so called previous to this time.
Phanuel. The name of her husband is not mentioned, probably because he had been so long dead. Nothing further is known of father or daughter, though tradition has been busy in supplementing the narrative.
She was of a great age. From this point to fourscore and four years (Luk 2:37), the description is parenthetical, referring to the particulars of her great age.
Simeon is seconded by Anna, a prophetess; she also declares that the child Jesus was the promised and expected Messiah: and thus Christ was proclaimed in the temple by two heralds of different sexes.
Concerning this aged woman, Anna, it is said, that she departed not from the temple night nor day; not that she lived and lodged there, but by her never departing from, understand her daily repairing to, the temple.
That which is often done, is said in scripture to be always done. We are said to do a thing continually when we do it seasonably: thus we pray continually, when we pray as often as duty requires us to pray.
Learn hence, that such duties as a Christian performs out of conscience, he will perform with constancy and perseverance; nature will have her good moods, but grace is steady. The devotions of a pious soul like Anna’s, are as constant, but more frequent, than the returns of day and night.
Luk 2:36-38. And there was one Anna, a prophetess A person of some note; she was a widow of about fourscore and four years These were the years of her life, and not of her widowhood only; who departed not from the temple The meaning is, not that she abode continually in the temple: for none lived there save the priests and Levites; but she attended there constantly at all the stated hours of prayer. But served God with fastings and prayers Even at that advanced age; night and day That is, spending therein a considerable part of the night, as well as of the day. She coming in at that instant The providence of God so ordering it, that another important testimony might be borne to the child Jesus; gave thanks likewise unto the Lord Praised the Lord, as Simeon had done, for sending the long-expected Messiah: or, in her turn confessed to the Lord, as , properly signifies. The expression seems to have a reference to Simeons speech, and might be intended to intimate that this of Anna was a kind of response, or counterpart to his. And spake of him to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem She spake afterward of the child, under the character of the Messiah, to all her acquaintance at Jerusalem, that had any sense of religion, or faith in its promises. The sceptre now appeared to be departing from Judah, though it was not actually gone: Daniels weeks were plainly near their period. And the revival of the spirit of prophecy, together with the memorable occurrences relating to the birth of John the Baptist, and of Jesus, could not but encourage and quicken the expectation of pious persons at this time. Ought not the example of these aged saints to impress and animate those, whose hoary heads, like theirs, are a crown of glory, being found in the way of righteousness? Should not those venerable lips, so soon to be silent in the grave, be employed in the praises of their Redeemer, that they may have the pleasure to see, through their pious attempts, the rising generation improve in true religion? and that they may quit the world with the greater tranquillity, in the view of leaving those behind them, to whom Christ will be as precious as he hath been to them, and who will be waiting for Gods salvation when they are gone to enjoy it?
Vers. 36-38. Anna presents, in several respects, a contrast to Simeon. The latter came into the temple impelled by the Spirit; Anna lives there. Simeon has no desire but to die; Anna seems to recover the vigour of youth to celebrate the Messiah. The words (Luk 2:37) might be made the predicate of , and the two which separate them, two appositions of . But it is simpler to understand in the sense of there was, or there was there, and to regard as an appendix intended to bring back the narrative from the description of Anna’s person to the actual fact. Meyer, who understands in the same way, begins a fresh proposition with the which immediately follows, and assigns to it for its verb (Luk 2:38). This construction is less natural, especially on account of the intermediate clauses (Luk 2:37). is a Hebraism (especially with ), Luk 1:7. The moral purity of Anna is expressed by the term , virginity, and by the long duration of her widowhood. Do the 84 years date from her birth, or from the death of her husband? In the latter case, supposing that she was married at 15, she would have been 106 years old. This sense is not impossible, and it more easily accounts perhaps for such a precise reckoning. Instead of , about, the Alex. read , until, a reading which appears preferable; for the restriction about would only be admissible with a round number80, for example. Did Anna go into the temple in the morning, to spend the whole day there? or did she remain there during the night, spreading her poor pallet somewhere in the court? Luke’s expression is compatible with either supposition. What he means is, that she was dead to the outer world, and only lived for the service of God.
We could not, with Tischendorf, following the Alex., erase one of the two (Luk 2:38). Both can be perfectly accounted for, and the omission is easily explained by the repetition of the word., in the compound , might refer to a kind of antiphony between Anna and Simeon. But in the LXX. this compound verb corresponds simply to (Psa 79:13); only expresses, therefore, the idea of payment in acknowledgment which is inherent in an act of thanksgiving (as in the French word reconnaissance). The Alex. reading , to God, is probably a correction, arising from the fact that in the O. T. the verb never governs anything but God. It is less natural to regard the received reading as resulting from the pronoun , Him, which follows.
We need not refer the imperf., she spake, merely to the time then present; she was doing it continually. The reading of some Alex., those who were looking for the deliverance of Jerusalem, is evidently a mistaken imitation of the expression, the consolation of Israel (Luk 2:25). The words, in Jerusalem, naturally depend on the participle, that looked for. The people were divided into three parties. The Pharisees expected an outward triumph from the Messiah; the Sadducees expected nothing; between them were the true faithful, who expected the consolation, that is, deliverance. It was these last, who, according to Ezekiel’s expression (chap. 9), cried for all the abominations of Jerusalem, that were represented by Anna and Simeon; and it was amongst these that Anna devoted herself to the ministry of an evangelist. If Luke had sought, as is supposed, occasions for practising his muse, by inventing personages for his hymns, and hymns for his personages, how came he to omit here to put a song into the mouth of Anna, as a counterpart to Simeon’s?
3. Historical conclusion: Luk 2:39-40.
It is a characteristic feature of Luke’s narrative, and one which is preserved throughout, that he exhibits the various actors in the evangelical drama as observing a scrupulous fidelity to the law (Luk 1:6, Luk 2:22-24, Luk 23:56). It is easy also to understand why Marcion, the opponent of the law, felt obliged to mutilate this writing in order to adapt it to his system. But what is less conceivable is, that several critics should find in such a Gospel the monument of a tendency systematically opposed to Jewish Christianity. The fact is, that in it the law always holds the place which according to history it ought to occupy. It is under its safeguard that the transition from the old covenant to the new is gradually effected. It is easy to perceive that Luk 2:39 has a religious rather than a chronological reference. They returned to Nazareth only after having fulfilled every prescription of the law. Luk 2:40 contains a short sketch of the childhood of Jesus, answering to the similar sketc, Luk 1:66, of that of John the Baptist. It is probably from this analogous passage that the gloss , in spirit, has been derived. It is wanting in the principal Alex. and Graeco-Latin documents. The expression He grew refers to His physical development. The next words, He waxed strong, are defined by the words being filled, or more literally, filling Himself with wisdom; they refer to His spiritual, intellectual, and religious development. The wisdom which formed the leading feature of this development (in John the Baptist it was strength) comprises, on the one hand, the knowledge of God; on the other, a penetrating understanding of men and things from a divine point of view. The image (filling Himself) appears to be that of a vessel, which, while increasing in size, fills itself, and, by filling itself, enlarges so as to be continually holding more. It is plain that Luke regards the development, and consequently the humanity, of Jesus as a reality. Here we have the normal growth of man from a physical and moral point of view. It was accomplished for the first time on our earth. God therefore regarded this child with perfect satisfaction, because His creative idea was realized in Him. This is expressed by the last clause of the verse. , the divine favour. This word contrasts with , the hand, Luk 1:66. The accus. marks the energy with which the grace of God rested on the child, penetrating His entire being. This government contrasts with that of Luk 1:66, , which only expresses simple co-operation. This description is partly taken from that of the young Samuel (1Sa 2:26); only Luke omits here the idea of human favour, which he reserves for Luk 2:52, where he describes the young man.
Let any one compare this description, in its exquisite sobriety, with the narratives of the infancy of Jesus in the apocryphal writings, and he will feel how authentic the tradition must have been from which such a narrative as this was derived.
Luk 2:36-39. Anna.Simeon has a counterpart in a centenarian widow who spends her whole life in ascetic devotion in the Temple. She adds her prophetic testimony to his, and afterwards speaks of the child to the circle of pious and expectant folk who, like these two representatives, ardently awaited the consolation of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary fulfil their errand and return to Nazareth (contrast Mat 2:20*).
Verse 36
Aser; Ashur. The reason why the same names are spelled so differently in the Old and New Testament, is that in the former they were written in Hebrew characters, and in the latter in Greek; and these characters are so different in respect to the sounds which they represent, that a name cannot be easily transferred from one language to the other without change.
2:36 {6} 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;
(6) Another witness besides Simeon, against whom no objection may be brought, inviting all men to the receiving of the Messiah.
Anna, whose name is equivalent to the Hebrew Hannah, was a female prophetess (cf. Exo 15:20; Jdg 4:4; 2Ki 22:14; Neh 6:14; Isa 8:3; Act 2:17; Act 21:9; 1Co 11:5). Her mention continues Luke’s interest in the renewal of prophecy at this time (cf. Luk 1:67; Luk 2:34-35). Perhaps Luke referred to Anna’s ancestors to validate her Jewishness.
"Curiously enough, the tribe of Asher alone is celebrated in tradition for the beauty of its women, and their fitness to be wedded to High-Priest or King." [Note: Edersheim, 1:200.]
Anna’s husband had died seven years after their marriage, and she had remained a widow since then to her present age of 84. Luke contains about 43 references to women, four of whom were widows (Luk 2:36-40; Luk 7:11-15; Luk 18:1-8; Luk 21:1-4). Anna was a widow who had devoted herself to the worship and service of God in the temple (cf. 1Ti 5:5). Luke again recorded God’s providential timing in bringing this godly woman to Jesus then (cf. Luk 2:27). As Simeon, she was anticipating God’s deliverance of Israel through Messiah (cf. Luk 2:25). Luke used "Jerusalem" figuratively (i.e., metonymy) for Israel (cf. Isa 52:9). God gave Anna insight into Jesus’ identity. The godly in Jerusalem undoubtedly learned about Messiah’s birth from Simeon and Anna (cf. Luk 1:68).
"They represent the long history of an expectant people, nourished by God’s promise. Zechariah and Elizabeth also fit this character type. They, too, are righteous, careful observers of the law (Luk 1:6), old (Luk 1:7), and filled with the prophetic Spirit when they recognize the fulfillment of God’s promise (Luk 1:41; Luk 1:67). These people represent their faith at its best, according to the values of the implied author, even though Zechariah has temporary doubts. To them the coming of the long awaited salvation is revealed." [Note: Tannehill, 1:39.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)