Prophetess at the Jerusalem temple
Anna
Also called Anna the Prophetess
An elderly widow who worshiped continually at the temple and was one of very few people in the New Testament explicitly identified as a prophetess, recognizing the infant Jesus as the redemption of Jerusalem.
Life and work
Luke identifies Anna as a prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She had been married seven years before becoming a widow, and by the time of the story was eighty-four years old (or had been a widow for eighty-four years, depending on how the Greek is read), and never left the temple, worshiping there with fasting and prayer night and day (Luke 2:36-37).
She arrived at the very moment Simeon was blessing the infant Jesus in the temple courts, and gave thanks to God, speaking about the child to everyone who was looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:38). She is notable as one of only a small handful of women in the New Testament explicitly given the title "prophetess," alongside figures like Philip's daughters (Acts 21:9). Anna does not appear again after this scene.
- Occupation
- Prophetess devoted to temple worship
- Places
- Jerusalem
Extra-biblical evidence
No extra-biblical source mentions Anna; she is known only from this brief temple scene in Luke's Gospel.
Scripture references
- Luke 2:36-38 — Anna recognizes Jesus at the temple
More people
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