Editing Anna the Prophetess (section)

==New Testament==
The passage mentioning Anna is as follows:
{{quotation|Luke 2:36–38 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[*] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
:* Footnote: Or then had been a widow for eighty-four years. ([[New International Version]])}}

From these three verses in Luke, the following is known of Anna:
*She was a [[prophet]]ess.
*She was a daughter of [[Phanuel]].
*She was a member of the [[tribe of Asher]].
*She was widowed after seven years of marriage (her husband is not named).
*She was a devout Asherite Hebrew who regularly practiced [[prayer]] and [[fasting]].

Luke describes Anna as "very old". Many Bibles and older commentaries interpret the New Testament text to state that she was 84 years old.<ref>{{cite book|access-date = 2010-01-16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mQ0MAAAAIAAJ&q=MCcLintock+cyclopedia
|title= Cyclopædia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature Vol 1 p.235
|year = 1896|publisher=John McClintock,James Strong}}</ref><ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0000245 Easton's Dictionary]</ref>

The Greek text states καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοηκοντατεσσάρων, generally translated as "she was a widow of eighty four years".<ref>UBS Greek NT</ref> The passage is ambiguous: it could mean that she was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years.<ref>Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and ... – Page 136 John MacArthur – 2008 "The Greek text is ambiguous as to her exact age. (“This woman was a widow of about eighty-four years.”) It might mean literally that she had been a widow for eighty-four years. Assuming she married very young (remember, thirteen was a ..."</ref><ref>[[Joel B. Green|Green, Joel B.]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wzRVN2S8cVgC&pg=PA151 The Gospel of Luke]'', Eerdmans, 1997, {{ISBN|0-8028-2315-7}}, p. 151.</ref> Some scholars consider the latter to be the more likely option, in which case she would likely have been around 105 years old.<ref name=Marshall>[[I. Howard Marshall|Marshall, I. Howard]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rKqiibViFowC&pg=PA123 The Gospel of Luke: A commentary on the Greek text]'', Eerdmans, 1978, {{ISBN|0-8028-3512-0}}, p. 123.</ref><ref name=Elliott>Elliott, J.K., "[https://www.jstor.org/pss/1560649 Anna's Age (Luke 2:36–37)]," ''Novum Testamentum'', Vol. 30, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1988), pp. 100–102.</ref>