Who Were Simeon and Anna in the Bible?
Simeon and Anna: The Short Answer
Simeon and Anna are two faithful Israelites who meet the infant Jesus when Mary and Joseph bring him to the temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth (Luke 2:22-38). Simeon is a righteous and devout man to whom the Holy Spirit has promised that he will see the Messiah before he dies. He takes Jesus in his arms and sings the song known as the Nunc Dimittis. Anna is an elderly widow and prophet who worships in the temple night and day. She thanks God and tells everyone waiting for Jerusalem's redemption about the child. Together they are the first people in the temple to recognize Jesus as the promised Savior.
They appear only once, in a scene of fourteen verses (Luke 2:25-38), yet Christians have remembered them for two thousand years. They stand for every believer who has waited a long time on God's promises and lived to see God keep them. For the full passage, see Jesus Is Presented in the Temple (Luke 2:21-40).
| Simeon | Anna | |
|---|---|---|
| Scripture | Luke 2:25-35 | Luke 2:36-38 |
| Name means | "Hearing" or "God has heard" | "Grace" or "favor" (the Greek form of Hannah) |
| Described as | "Righteous and devout" | A prophet, a widow of great age |
| Family | Not given | Daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher |
| Waiting for | "The consolation of Israel" | "The redemption of Jerusalem" |
| Led by | The Holy Spirit | A lifetime of worship, fasting and prayer |
| What they did | Held Jesus, praised God, blessed the family, warned Mary | Praised God and spoke about Jesus to others |
| Remembered for | The Nunc Dimittis | Telling all who were waiting about the child |
Who was Simeon?
Luke introduces him simply: "Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him" (Luke 2:25). His name recalls the son of Jacob and Leah, whom Leah named Simeon "because the LORD has heard" (Genesis 29:33). This Simeon's life is one long prayer that God has heard. See Who Was Jacob in the Bible?
"The consolation of Israel." Simeon is waiting for God to comfort his people, the promise of Isaiah 40:1: "Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God." After centuries of exile and foreign rule, he is still watching for that comfort to arrive. He trusts the God of all comfort.
Led by the Holy Spirit. Luke mentions the Spirit three times in three verses. The Spirit rests on Simeon, has revealed "that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah" (Luke 2:26), and guides him into the temple at the very moment Mary and Joseph arrive (Luke 2:27). Simeon is not a priest, as far as Luke tells us. He is a layman whose life is open to the Spirit. See What Are the Names for the Holy Spirit in the Bible?
Don't confuse him with the other Simeons of the Bible: Jacob's son and the tribe named for him, Simeon called Niger, a teacher in the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1), or Simon Peter, whom James calls "Simeon" at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:14; see The Jerusalem Council Debate (Acts 15:1-21)).
Simeon's song and Simeon's warning
Simeon takes the baby in his arms and blesses God:
"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32).
The church calls this song the Nunc Dimittis, from its first words in Latin, "Now you dismiss." Simeon speaks like a watchman whose shift is over. He has seen what he was waiting for, and he is ready to die in peace.
"Master." Simeon addresses God with a word for an owner or sovereign ruler. The believers in Acts use the same word when they pray, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth" (Acts 4:24). See Sovereign Lord and The Believers' Prayer (Acts 4:23-31).
"Your salvation." Simeon is holding a baby, and he calls him God's salvation. See What Is Salvation in the Bible?
"A light for revelation to the Gentiles." Simeon echoes Isaiah 49:6. Jesus is not only Israel's Messiah but the Light of the World. Paul and Barnabas quote the same promise when they turn to the Gentiles in Acts 13:47 (see The Gospel Turns to the Gentiles).
Then Simeon blesses Mary and Joseph and speaks a harder word to Mary: "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:34-35). Joy and sorrow sit side by side. The child will divide people, and his mother will suffer for loving him. Many readers hear in the sword a first glimpse of Mary at the cross.
Who was Anna?
"There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day" (Luke 2:36-37).
Luke gives Anna more biographical detail than almost any other minor character in his Gospel, and each detail carries weight.
Her name. Anna is the Greek form of Hannah, meaning "grace" or "favor." It recalls Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who also prayed for years at God's sanctuary (1 Samuel 1). Luke's story of Jesus' childhood echoes Samuel's more than once, and Mary's Magnificat echoes the Song of Hannah.
Her family. Her father's name, Phanuel, is the same as Penuel, the place where Jacob wrestled with God and said, "I have seen God face to face" (Genesis 32:30). Her tribe, Asher, was one of the northern tribes scattered when Assyria conquered the northern kingdom in 722 BCE. Anna's presence in the temple is a small sign that God had not forgotten the lost tribes. See Who Are the Twelve Tribes of Israel? and God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Her age. The Greek can mean that Anna was eighty-four years old, or that she had been a widow for eighty-four years, which would make her well over a hundred. Either way she has spent most of her life waiting. See Widows in the Bible.
Her calling. Anna is one of only a handful of women in Scripture called a prophet, alongside Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14) and, in Acts, the four daughters of Philip (Acts 21:9). See Prophetesses in the Bible, Who Was Deborah in the Bible? and Paul's Journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21:1-16).
Her witness. "At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:38). Simeon speaks to God and to Mary; Anna speaks to the waiting community. She becomes one of the first people in Luke to tell others about Jesus. See What Is Prayer in the Bible? and What Is Redemption in the Bible?
Why Simeon and Anna matter
They are faithful Israel, still waiting. Like Abraham, who trusted God's promise for decades before he held Isaac, Simeon and Anna kept hoping long past the age when most people stop. Luke shows that Jesus did not appear out of nowhere. He came to people who had been praying for him. See What Is Hope in the Bible?
The old welcome the new. Luke's Gospel begins with the elderly: Zechariah and Elizabeth, then Simeon and Anna. The ones who have waited longest are the first to see. Age is no barrier to the Spirit's work.
A man and a woman bear witness together. Luke often pairs a man and a woman to make the same point twice, so that every reader can find themselves in the story.
| Man | Woman | Where in Luke |
|---|---|---|
| Zechariah receives an angel's promise | Mary receives an angel's promise | Luke 1:5-38 |
| Simeon recognizes the Messiah | Anna recognizes the Messiah | Luke 2:25-38 |
| Naaman the Syrian is healed | The widow of Zarephath is fed | Luke 4:25-27 |
| A centurion's servant is healed | A widow's son is raised at Nain | Luke 7:1-17 |
| A man plants a mustard seed | A woman mixes yeast into flour | Luke 13:18-21 |
| A shepherd finds his lost sheep | A woman finds her lost coin | Luke 15:4-10 |
See Women Disciples of Jesus and Women in the Bible.
The good news is for everyone. In one scene, an old man announces that Jesus is a light to the Gentiles, and an old woman tells all of Jerusalem's faithful. The message is already moving outward, the movement Luke will trace through the whole book of Acts. See Acts and the Inclusion of the Gentiles.
Simeon and Anna in the church year
Many churches remember Simeon and Anna on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, forty days after Christmas. In the West it is also called Candlemas, because candles were blessed in honor of Simeon's "light for revelation to the Gentiles." Eastern churches call it the Meeting of the Lord, for the moment Simeon met the Messiah. Simeon's song is prayed at the close of the day in Night Prayer (Compline) and in Anglican Evening Prayer. See The Nunc Dimittis and Christmas Liturgy.
Pastor's heads-up: Over my 3 decades of ministry I have met so many older Christians in my congregations who have taught me the practice of waiting and trusting. They have accumulated wisdom and share a non-hurried life. It’s not that they don’t have worries or wants, but that they have learned over the course of their lives that God is with them in every circumstance, and that what comes about will also fall under the will of God. Waiting patiently and prayerfully testifies to the trustworthiness of God.
Guardrail: what Luke does not say about Simeon. Simeon is often pictured as a very old priest. Luke never says he was a priest, and he never gives his age. His words, "now you are dismissing your servant in peace," suggest he expected to die soon, which is why tradition pictures him as elderly.
Guardrail: Anna's age. Luke's Greek allows Anna to be eighty-four, or to have been a widow for eighty-four years. Say "of a great age," as Luke does, rather than insisting on one number.
Questions about Simeon and Anna
Who was Simeon in the Bible? A righteous and devout man in Jerusalem who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah before he died. He held the infant Jesus in the temple and sang the Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2:25-35).
Who was Anna in the Bible? An elderly widow and prophet from the tribe of Asher who worshiped in the temple night and day. She recognized Jesus and spoke about him to everyone waiting for Jerusalem's redemption (Luke 2:36-38).
Where are Simeon and Anna in the Bible? Only in Luke 2:25-38, during Jesus' presentation in the temple.
What did Simeon say to Mary? He told her that her child would cause the falling and rising of many, would be opposed, and that "a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:35).
Was Simeon a priest? Luke does not say so. He describes Simeon as righteous, devout and guided by the Holy Spirit.
How old was Anna? Either eighty-four or, if she had been a widow for eighty-four years, over a hundred. Luke says she was "of a great age."
What is the Nunc Dimittis? Simeon's song of praise in Luke 2:29-32, named from its first words in Latin, "Now you dismiss."
Why are Simeon and Anna important? They represent faithful Israel waiting for the Messiah, and they are the first people in the temple to recognize Jesus. Their witness shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel's hopes and a light for all nations.
See also
Sources
Raymond E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, updated edition (Doubleday, 1993).
Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Eerdmans, 1997).
John Nolland, Luke 1:1-9:20, Word Biblical Commentary 35A (Word Books, 1989).
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version.
