The passage mentioning Anna is as follows: From these three verses in Luke, the following is known of Anna: • She was a
prophetess. • 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. The passage is ambiguous: it could mean that she was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years. Some scholars consider the latter to be the more likely option, in which case she would likely have been around 105 years old. ==Church traditions and veneration ==