Luke 2:37

Luke 2:37. Even unto fourscore and four years. The correct reading suggests that she was now eighty-four years old, not a widow for that period. This is evidently mentioned as a commendation (comp. 1 Timothy 5:3; 1 Timothy 5:5), especially as it is plainly intimated that she was young at the death of her husband.

Who departed not, etc. Description of her mode of life. She not only appeared in the temple at the ordinary hours of prayer, and on ordinary fast days (Monday and Thursday), but her life was devoted entirely to religious exercises. As, however, she represents expectant Israel, this cannot be an argument in favor of monastic life. The tradition that Mary had been brought up under her guidance in the temple is groundless. Simeon and Anna ‘stand in striking contrast to the infant Saviour, exemplifying the Old Covenant decaying and waxing old before the New, which is to grow and remain.' Van Oosterzee.