Luke 2:36-37

The Testimony of Anna

2:36 There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, ¹  having been married to her husband for seven years until his death. 2:37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ²  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ³ 

Luke 8:42

8:42 because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. ⁴ 

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds pressed ⁵  around him.

Luke 12:19

12:19 And I will say to myself, ⁶  “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”’

Luke 13:8

13:8 But the worker ⁷  answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer ⁸  on it.

Luke 13:11

13:11 and a woman was there ⁹  who had been disabled by a spirit ¹⁰  for eighteen years. She ¹¹  was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. ¹² 

[2:36]  ¹ tn Her age is emphasized by the Greek phrase here, “she was very old in her many days.”

[2:37]  ² 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).

[2:37]  ³ sn The statements about Anna worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day make her extreme piety clear.

[8:42]  ³ tn This imperfect verb could be understood ingressively: “she was beginning to die” or “was approaching death.”

[8:42]  ⁴ sn Pressed is a very emphatic term – the crowds were pressing in so hard that one could hardly breathe (L&N 19.48).

[12:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.

[13:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the worker who tended the vineyard) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “toss manure [on it].” This is a reference to manure used as fertilizer.

[13:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “and behold, a woman.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[13:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “a woman having a spirit of weakness” (or “a spirit of infirmity”).

[13:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “years, and.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[13:11]  ⁹ tn Or “and could not straighten herself up at all.” If εἰς τὸ παντελές (ei" to pantele") is understood to modify δυναμένη (dunamenh), the meaning is “she was not able at all to straighten herself up”; but the phrase may be taken with ἀνακύψαι (anakuyai) and understood to mean the same as the adverb παντελῶς (pantelws), with the meaning “she was not able to straighten herself up completely.” See BDAG 754 s.v. παντελής 1 for further discussion. The second option is preferred in the translation because of proximity: The phrase in question follows ἀνακύψαι in the Greek text.