Luke 2
v.36
There was also a prophetess, 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,
Luke likes to place a male character and a female character side by side. Here the presence of Anna ensures the validity of the testimony of two witnesses (see Deut. 19:15) to the coming of the Messiah. Although Luke will record no actual words of this woman, he accords her a surprisingly full and formal personal description compared with Simeon. If, as the Greek more naturally says, she had been a widow for eighty-four years (cf. NIV footnote), she must be over a hundred years old, though it is also possible to read “eighty-four” as her total age. Clearly, she was a familiar and respected figure to those who visited the temple, and her words would carry weight. Simeon’s words may have been in private, but Anna spoke publicly.