Anna

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

ANNA ( Ἅννα, Heb. חַנָּה).—When His parents brought the infant Jesus to the temple to present Him to the Lord, two aged representatives of the OT Church received Him with songs of praise, Simeon and Anna ( Luke 2:25 ff.). Anna was the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (v. 36), which, though one of the Ten Tribes of the Dispersion, was still represented in Palestine. From it some beautiful women are said to have been chosen as wives for the priests (Edersheim, and Times of Jesus the Messiah, i. p. 200). Anna was a widow 84 years of age (Authorized Version), or more probably ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885) about 105, as 7 years of married life followed by 84 years of widowhood would make her to be. She was a devout and saintly woman, worshipping constantly in the temple, with fastings and supplications, night and day; and, like Deborah Huldah of the OT, she had prophetic gifts. Her desire, like the Psalmist’s ( Psalms 27:4), was to dwell always in the house of God, though it is hardly likely that a woman would be allowed literally to dwell within the sacred precincts. Having entered the temple at the same time as Jesus was brought in, she followed up the song of Simeon in similar strains, and spake of the Holy Child ‘to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem’ ( Luke 2:38). Anna would seem to later times an ideal saint of the cloister, as such stress is laid on her virginity, her long life of widowhood, and her ceaseless devotions. Possibly her name may have had to do with the name Anna, given to the mother of the Virgin Mary, in the Protevangelium of James .

David M. W. Laird.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ANNA (the Greek form of Heb. Hannah , which means ‘grace’). The name of an aged prophetess (  Luke 2:35-38 ), one of the godly remnant in Israel who in the dark days which preceded the Messiah’s advent were looking for the dayspring from on high and waiting for the consolation of Israel. She was the daughter of Phanuel, and belonged to the ancient tribe of Asher, whose women were celebrated for their beauty, which fitted them for wedding with high priests and kings. She had attained a great age, upwards of a hundred years, since she had been a wife for seven years and a widow for eighty-four (see RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). She bad given herself to a life of devotion, frequenting the Temple and ‘worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day’ (cf.   1 Timothy 5:6 ). At the Presentation of the Infant Messiah (  Luke 2:22-24 ) she entered the sacred court, and, hearing Simeon’s benediction and prophecy, took up the refrain of praise and talked about the Holy Child to her godly intimates, quickening their hope and preparing a welcome for the Saviour when He should by and by be manifested unto Israel.

David Smith.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

( Luke 2:36-37). Daughter of Phanuel, of Asher; a widow of 84; a prophetess, i.e. guided by Providence, when the infant Jesus was being presented in the temple, to come in "that instant," and enabled by the Spirit to discern and to announce to others the Messiah, and to render praises accordingly. After seven years of married life she had given up all other concerns to join the women who devoted themselves to a continual attendance at the temple services "night and day"; "a widow indeed" ( 1 Timothy 5:5). One of "God's own elect, which cry day and night unto Him," looking for the promised redemption "unto which the twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come" ( Acts 26:7; contrast  Revelation 12:10;  Luke 18:7; compare  Exodus 38:8). It is remarkable she is the only one of note mentioned in Scripture of the tribe of Asher, though the name means blessedness. A sample of an aged female's waiting faith, as Simeon is of an aged man's.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

the daughter of Phanuel, a prophetess and widow, of the tribe of Asher,  Luke 2:36-37 . She was married early, and had lived only seven years with her husband. Being then disengaged from the ties of marriage, she thought only of pleasing the Lord; and continued without ceasing in the temple, serving God night and day, with fasting and prayer, as the Evangelist expresses it. However, her serving God at the temple night and day, says Dr. Prideaux, is to be understood no otherwise than that she constantly attended the morning and evening sacrifice at the temple; and then with great devotion offered up her prayers to God; the time of morning and evening sacrifice being the most solemn time of prayer among the Jews, and the temple the most solemn place for this devotion. Anna was fourscore years of age when the holy virgin came to present Jesus in the temple; and entering accidentally, while Simeon was pronouncing his thanksgiving, she likewise began to praise God, and to speak of the Messiah to all those who waited for redemption in Jerusalem. We know nothing more either of the life or death of this holy woman.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Anna ( Ăn'Nah ), Grace, a prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  Luke 2:36. Her husband having died after she had been married seven years, she devoted herself to the Lord, and was very constant in her attendance on the services of the temple. She did not, however, live in the temple itself. At 84 years of age she listened to the prophetic blessing which Simeon uttered when he held the infant Redeemer in his arms, and joined in it with great fervor.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, early married, but left a widow after seven years, and thenceforth devoted to the service of God. She was constant in attendance at the morning and evening sacrifices at the temple; and there, at the age of eighty- four years, was blessed with a sight of the infant Savior, and inspired to announce the coming of the promised Messiah to many who longed to see him,  Luke 2:36-38 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

An'na. (Grace). A "prophetess" in Jerusalem, at the time of our Lord's Presentation, in the Temple.  Luke 2:36. She was of the tribe of Asher.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of Asher, who gave thanks when the infant Jesus was presented in the temple.  Luke 2:36 . She was one of the godly who looked for redemption in Israel.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Chronicles 34:22 Luke 2:36,37

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) An East Indian money of account, the sixteenth of a rupee, or about 2/ cents.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Luke 2:36

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

an´a ( Ἄννα , Ánna (Westcott-Hort, Hȧnna  ; see Intro, 408); Hebrew equivalent חנּה , ḥannāh , signifying "grace"  1 Samuel 1:2 ):

(1) The wife of Tobit (Tobit 1:9).

(2) A "prophetess," daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, and thus a Galilean, living in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' birth ( Luke 2:36-38 ). "Of a great age," she must have been considerably over 100 years, having been a widow 84 years after a short married life of seven (see the Revised Version (British and American)). Exceptionally devout and gifted in spirit, she worshipped so constantly "with fastings and supplications night and day," that she is said to have "departed not from the temple." Some have mistakenly supposed that this signified permanent residence in the temple. The fact that her lineage is recorded indicates the distraction of her family. Tradition says that the tribe of Asher was noted for the beauty and talent of its women, who for these gifts, were qualified for royal and high-priestly marriage. While the tribe of Asher was not among the tribes that returned from the Babylonian exile to Palestine, many of its chief families must have done so as in the case of the prophetess. The period of war and national oppression, through which Anna's early life was passed, created in her, as in the aged Simeon, an intense longing for the "redemption" promised through the Messiah. See Simeon . This hope of national deliverance sustained her through more than four decades of patient waiting. In the birth of Jesus her faith was abundantly rewarded, and she became a grateful and ceaseless witness "to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem," that the day of their spiritual deliverance had come.

Literature

See Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus , I, 200-201, Gelkie, Life and Words of Christ , I, 133-34.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( ῎Αννα , the Greek form of the name Hannah [q.v.]; it also occurs in the cognate Punic as that of the sister of Dido, Virgil, En. 4, 9), the name of two women. 1. The wife of Tobit, whose history is contained in the apocryphal book that bears his name ( Tobit 1:9 sq.).

2. An aged widow, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She had married early, but after seven years her husband died, and during her long widowhood she daily attended the morning and evening services of the temple. Anna was eighty-four years old when the infant Jesus was brought to the temple by his mother, and, entering as Simeon pronounced his thanksgiving, she also broke forth in praise to God fof the fulfillment of his ancient promises ( Luke 2:36-37), B.C. 6. See Mayer, De Anna Prophetissa Vidua (Gryph. 1706).

was the Accadian name of the god Anu.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Anna, 1

An´na, wife of Tobit, whose history is contained in the apocryphal book named after him ( Tobit 1:9, etc.).

Anna, 2

Anna, an aged widow, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She had married early, but after seven years her husband died, and during her long widowhood she daily attended the morning and evening services of the Temple. Anna was eighty-four years old when the infant Jesus was brought to the Temple by his mother, and entering as Simeon pronounced his thanksgiving, she also broke forth in praise to God for the fulfillment of his ancient promises ( Luke 2:36-37).