2:36 There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, 4 having been married to her husband for seven years until his death.
1 tn Grk “took a wife” (an idiom for marrying a woman).
2 sn The point is a dilemma. In a world arguing a person should have one wife, whose wife will she be in the afterlife? The question was designed to show that (in the opinion of the Sadducees) resurrection leads to a major problem.
3 tn Grk “For the seven had her as wife.”
3 tn Her age is emphasized by the Greek phrase here, “she was very old in her many days.”
4 sn There is an important respect shown to women in this text, as their contributions were often ignored in ancient society.
5 tn Or “illnesses.” The term ἀσθένεια (asqeneia) refers to the state of being ill and thus incapacitated in some way – “illness, disability, weakness.” (L&N 23.143).
6 sn This Mary is not the woman mentioned in the previous passage (as some church fathers claimed), because she is introduced as a new figure here. In addition, she is further specified by Luke with the notation called Magdalene, which seems to distinguish her from the woman at Simon the Pharisee’s house.
5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.
6 tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.
7 sn The point of the story is that to fail to respond is to risk a worse fate than when one started.