Who Was Anna In The Bible? A Character Study

Who was Anna in the Bible and more specifically, Anna in the New Testament?

Anna’s Name Meaning

Anna was a prophetess and is mentioned very early in the New Testament and is referred to just after Jesus’ birth. Anna’s name is Hebrew of origin and her name means “gracious” or “merciful,” otherwise there is very little known about her and all we can know is what we will find in Scriptures, in particular in Luke chapter two.

Anna’s Background

We read the first encounter with Anna in Luke 2:36 where it says “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin.” Once thing we know for sure about Anna is that she was an Israelite since she is said to be “of the tribe of Asher.” The interesting thing is the tribe to which Anna belonged was named Asher which means “blessed.” She was the daughter of Phanuel which is from the Hebrew “Phanouēl” which means “before the face of God” and she would literally be before the face of God in seeing Jesus Christ as a babe. This woman was apparently like Simeon, who was also “well advanced in years” and it was written that “she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.” This woman was most certainly a very godly woman who fasted and prayed night and day in her worshiping of God in the temple. The literal Greek says that she was “a widow for eighty-four years” indicating that she was widowed at the time she saw Christ as a babe and probably been one for a long time.

Anna’s Prophecy

Anna also apparently had been awaiting the coming of the Lord’s anointed like Simeon for Luke records “And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). That “very hour” seems to point back to Jesus’ parents coming out of the temple with the Lord and when she had seen the Lord’s anointed, “she began to give thanks to God” for the long wait was over. Since Anna was a prophetess (Luke 2:36) she prophecies about “all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” had now came in the form of the Redeemer in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

We don’t know a lot more about Anna than that which was given in these few short verses but we know that, like Simeon, she had been waiting a very long time for the Redeemer of Israel, or as she called Him, the redeemer of Jerusalem and that is why she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Christ to all who were also apparently waiting for Him. This indicates that there were others too, besides her and Simeon, who were waiting for the prophecies Messiah to come and come He did and He was not only the Redeemer of Jerusalem, but of all who would repent and trust in Him.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.