Luke 2:37 - Anna, "a widow of about fourscore and four years"

Steven Avery

Steven Avery

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Luke 2:36 (AV)
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel,
of the tribe of Aser:
she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;

Luke 2:37 (AV)
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years,
which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Corruption versions
NET - She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years.

1 tn Grk “living with her husband for seven years from her virginity and she was a widow for eighty four years.” The chronology of the eighty-four years is unclear, since the final phrase could mean “she was widowed until the age of eighty-four” (so BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.α). However, the more natural way to take the syntax is as a reference to the length of her widowhood, the subject of the clause, in which case Anna was about 105 years old (so D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:251-52; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 123-24).

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Steven Avery

Steven Avery

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TR - ὡς of about
CT - ἕως to

Laparola
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Blue Letter (can check John Hurt)
TR
2:37 καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοηκοντατεσσάρων ἣ οὐκ ἀφίστατο ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ νηστείαις καὶ δεήσεσιν λατρεύουσα νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν
CT
2:37 καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ἕως ἐτῶν ὀγδοήκοντα τεσσάρων ἣ οὐκ ἀφίστατο τοῦ ἱεροῦ νηστείαις καὶ δεήσεσιν λατρεύουσα νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν
 
Steven Avery

Steven Avery

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Anna the Prophetess
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_the_Prophetess
Luke describes Anna as "very old". Many Bibles and older commentaries interpret the New Testament text to state that she was 84 years old.[1][2]

The Greek text states καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοηκοντατεσσάρων, generally translated as "she was a widow of eighty four years".[3] The passage is ambiguous: it could mean that she was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years.[4][5] Some scholars consider the latter to be the more likely option.[6] On this option, she could not have married younger than about age 14, and so she would have been at least 14 + 7 + 84 = 105[clarification needed] years old.[7]

Cyclopædia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature Vol 1 p.235. John McClintock,James Strong. 1896. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
Easton's Dictionary
UBS Greek NT

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 ..."

Green, Joel B., The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 1997, ISBN 0-8028-2315-7, p. 151.

Marshall, I. Howard, The Gospel of Luke: A commentary on the Greek text, Eerdmans, 1978, ISBN 0-8028-3512-0, p. 123.

Elliott, J.K., "Anna's Age (Luke 2:36–37)," Novum Testamentum, Vol. 30, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1988), pp. 100–102.
 
Steven Avery

Steven Avery

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6055 ὡς (hōs): like, as; a marker of weak relationships between events (1Th 5:2); 2. LN 90.21 that, marker of discourse content (Php 1:8); 3. LN 89.86 how, in what manner; a marker indicating how something occurred (Lk 24:35); 4. LN 67.45 when (Jn 2:9; 1Co 11:34; Jn 8:7 v.r.); 5. LN 67.139 while, as long as (Jn 12:35); 6. LN 89.37 because, a marker of cause or reason (Ac 28:19; 2Pe 1:3); 7. LN 89.61 in order to, so that; a marker of purpose (Lk 9:52); 8. LN 89.52 as a result, so then; a marker of result (Heb 3:11); 9. LN 78.42 approximately, about; a marker of degree (Ac 4:4); 10. LN 78.13 how great; 11. LN 67.57 ὡς τάχιστα (hōs tachista), as soon as possible (Ac 17:15+)

Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) 1997: n. pag. Print.
 
Steven Avery

Steven Avery

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Church Fathers Scripture Search Engine
7 - pseudo-Matthew - and she had now been a widow eighty-four years.
9 - Diatessaron - and she remained a widow about eighty-four years
13 - Augustine - had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow even unto eighty-four years
22 - Jerome - had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years,

Ambrose - 25 26
25 A widow, it is said, of fourscore and four years, a widow who departed not from the temple, a widow who served God night and day with fastings and with prayers
26 Anna, who for eighty-four years in her widowhood had served God with fasts and prayers day and night in the temple,36863686

https://www.catholiccrossreference.online/fathers/index.php/Luke 2:37
 
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Steven Avery

Steven Avery

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Can check more commentaries

Douala-Rhemish
37 And she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day

John Gill
Luke 2:37
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years
Which is not the date of her whole age, as some have thought, but of her widowhood state, as distinct from her marriage state, and the time of her virginity. And this sense all the versions favour.

Matthew Henry
prophet, when no sooner did prophecy revive but it appeared from Galilee. (4.) She was of a great age, a widow of about eighty-four years; some think she had now been eighty-four years a widow, and then she must be considerably above a hundred years old; others, rather than suppose that a woman so very old should be capable of fasting and praying as she did, suppose that she was only eighty-four years of age, and had been long a widow. Though she was a young widow, and had lived with her husband but seven years, yet she never married again, but continued a widow to her dying day, which is mentioned to her praise. (5.

Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994. Print.

lived, &c.—she had lived seven years with her husband (Lu 2:36), and been a widow eighty-four years; so that if she married at the earliest marriageable age, twelve years, she could not at this time be less than a hundred three years old.

Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Vol. 2. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997. Print.

And she was a widow of about four-score and four years. That is, she was about eighty-four years of age. It does not mean that she had been a widow for that long time.

Barnes, Albert. Notes on the New Testament: Luke & John. Ed. Robert Frew. London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885. Print.
 
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Steven Avery

Steven Avery

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Luke 2:37 (VGCLEM)
37 Et hæc vidua usque ad annos octoginta quatuor: quæ non discedebat de templo, jejuniis et obsecrationibus serviens nocte ac die.

usque adv all the way (to, from), right on, right up to; (time) all the time, as long as, continuously; (degree) even, as much as; usque quāque everywhere, every moment, on every occasion.

Collins Latin Dictionary Plus Grammar 1997: n. pag. Print.
 
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