부산대학교 도서관

Anna's age is a seemingly minor detail with important implications for the relationship between Israel and the church in Luke-Acts. I argue that a symbolic reading of the number eighty-four, seven times twelve, suggests that Anna embodies both Israel and the church. Seven and twelve are key numbers for Israel, and they also characterize the church in Luke-Acts (e.g., the seven deacons in Acts 6:1-6 and the twelve apostles in Luke 6:13-16). Anna's age thus offers insight into the ongoing debate about the relationship between Israel and the church in Luke-Acts, a debate that resulted from Hans Conzelmann's thesis that Luke divides time between the period of Israel and the period of the church. Anna's age, together with her widowhood and life of worship, suggests that Anna is a hinge connecting Israel and the church, problematizing the idea inherited from Conzelmann that the characters in the infancy narrative belong solely to an era before Jesus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]