Who Was Anna the Prophetess and How Does She Fit into the Christmas Story?
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Have you ever seen something no one else can see, yet you couldn’t help telling others about it? The excitement, beauty, and magnitude were too much to contain within — you knew others had to know, too.
One beautiful example of this comes in the Gospel of Luke, shortly after Jesus was born.
In Luke 2, we’re told how Mary and Joseph presented their newborn son, Jesus, to the Lord in the temple at Jerusalem. A natural and holy part of Jewish custom, this was a joyful and meaningful act that consecrated the child to God, in keeping with decrees handed down by Moses. Along with presenting the child, the parents also were to offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons.
Of course, Jesus was no ordinary baby. Not only does Scripture tell us his birth was heralded by a choir of angelic beings, but when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple, they also encountered two prophets who praised God in a grateful display of thanksgiving.
One of these prophets was a woman named Anna, one of only a handful of female prophets mentioned in the Bible.
As we’re told in Luke 2:38, “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.”
Who was Anna the prophetess, and why is her story and depiction important to the Gospel and to us today?
Who Was Anna the Prophetess?
The Bible contains only three sentences about Anna the prophetess, but they are important lines.
Luke 2:36-37 tells us Anna was the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. At 84, she was considered “very old,” and had been a widow for many years. She only had seven years with her husband before his passing, and she had lived in the temple as a widow since. Scripture tells us “she never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying” (v. 37).
Scripture also identifies her specifically as a prophet. The original Greek used here is the word prophētis, from the word prophēteia or prophētēs, which mean an interpreter of oracles or other hidden things, those filled with the Spirit of God who receive divine inspiration, especially concerning future events, and in particular such as relate to the cause and kingdom of God and to human salvation. Prophētis means simply a “prophetess,” or female prophet — a woman to whom future events or things hidden from others are at times revealed, either by inspiration or by dreams and visions.
Here, we’re told Anna was both diligent and fiercely loyal to God, fasting and praying constantly. When she saw Jesus, the Spirit surely opened her eyes, and she was unable to contain her excitement. She expressed fervent thanks and praise to the Lord and proclaimed the child to all who would hear (v. 38).
A woman wholly dedicated to the Lord, she was rewarded for her great faith with a glimpse of the promised one, the Messiah of Jerusalem.
What Else Is Happening in the Temple?
Anna’s prophecy about Jesus is not the only one Mary and Joseph hear that day. Scripture also tells us how a righteous and devout man, Simeon, had been led by the Holy Spirit to the temple courts that day. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus in, Simeon took the baby in his arms and gave fervent thanks to the Lord, telling God he could now die in peace. “’For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel,’ Simeon proclaimed” (Luke 2:30-32).
Simeon also told Jesus’s mother, Mary, that the child would “cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:34-35).
Immediately after this, “coming up to them at that very moment,” we’re told, Anna sees the child and issues her own prophetic thanksgiving (v. 38).
Why Is the Prophet Anna Important to the Story of Christ?
To everyone else, the infant Jesus and his Nazarene parents, Mary and Joseph, probably seemed commonplace. But to Anna — as well as to Simon — Jesus was extraordinary. As a prophetess, she saw things normally hidden to ordinary, everyday people.
These passages in Luke indicate that Anna, the prophetess, recognized who Jesus was and how significant he would be to the people in Jerusalem awaiting redemption.
Her recognition of Jesus’s significance comes just after Simeon’s and shortly after the spectacle displayed by God’s angel, who had appeared to shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem singing praises with God’s heavenly host about the birth of the promised Messiah (Luke 2:8-20).
These three back-to-back stories drive home the clear point: that Jesus was the Christ, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, Word became flesh (John 1:14) sent by God to be the savior of the world.
Who Are the Other Female Prophets?
Roughly 100 prophets are mentioned in the Bible — most in the Old Testament and about 25 in the New Testament. Abraham was the first prophet mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 20:7) and is considered the father of all believers, the first to receive God's promises.
Most of the other prophets throughout the Bible are men, but there are a few female prophets. In the Old Testament, Miriam, the sister of Moses, is identified as a prophet in Exodus 15:20. The Israelite judge Deborah is identified as a prophet in Judges 4:4. Both 2 Kings 22:14 and 2 Chronicles 34:22 identify Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, as a prophet. In Nehemiah 6:14, the author references the prophetess Noadiah, and in Isaiah 8:3, the prophet Isaiah makes love to “the prophetess” (Isaiah 8:3), also described by scholars as his wife, and she bore him a son.
The Hebrew word for prophet is naviʾ, while neviʾa means prophetess.
Beyond Anna, Luke also mentions Christian women prophets when he introduces Philip’s daughters as “virgins who prophesy” (Acts 21:9).
What Are Some Things We Can Learn from Anna the Prophetess?
Anna can teach us a number of things. First, God blesses those who steadfastly devote themselves to his will and his ways. In this case, we see how Anna spent eight decades in the temple, praying and fasting. Her reward in seeing the Messiah was a great blessing to her.
Second, prayer and fasting can produce great faith and public witness. Day after day and night after night, Anna devoted herself to God’s work, praying and fasting. She modeled for others diligence and trust in the Lord.
Anna also exemplifies patience. It’s not clear whether she was a widow in the temple for 84 years, or whether she was 84 and spent most of that time in service to the Lord, but either way her commitment and dedication of time was significant and inspiring.
And finally, when she laid eye upon the Christ child, she didn’t keep the news to herself. She bubbled over with enthusiasm, praising her heavenly Father and telling all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem her exciting discovery.
In the Gospel of Luke, Anna was among the first to learn the truth: after all these years, the Redeemer had come and the prophecies were being fulfilled. She joins two other significant women at the start of Luke’s gospel — Elizabeth, mother of John, and Marry, mother of Jesus.
Thanks be to God, for the Messiah had finally come into the world.
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