“and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy”
What do you see? (OBJECTIVE OBSERVATION)
In a dark, quiet space, with just enough light to read, sits an elderly woman intently reading a large book. She is wrapped in a heavy cloak with a fur collar, and has her head covered. Looking closely at the details, she is sitting on an ornately carved chair. A place for the wealthy or learned then, not for the poor or uneducated.
You can click on the image above to look at a high resolution image that you can zoom in on. But let’s look at some of the finer details.
Her grey hair discreetly peeks out from under her headpiece. You can see that her face is worn with age, but she is intently studying the book she holds in her hands. Is there the slightest of smiles on her lips?
Her aged hands follow along on the text she is reading, lovingly caressing the page. We cannot read or guess what she is reading, but it seems important to her. Notice the incredible detail painted of this hand; the wrinkles and skin texture.
What do you feel? (SUBJECTIVE EMOTION)
Reflect on the feelings and emotions that you have as you meditate on this painting. Are you anxious or peaceful? Is the scene welcoming or hostile? Are you drawn in, or do you feel uninvited?
Take a moment now to meditate on the painting and think about how it makes you feel.
What do you wonder about?
Who is this woman? It could have been my mother, or my grandmother. There are no strong clues as to her identity. We may wonder what she is reading, since it is illegible to us (and the book has no apparent pictures). And we might wonder where she is, since there are few details about location. There is only the chair and the illumination.
Let’s start with the artist. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669) known by the singular name Rembrandt1, was a Dutch painter and is generally considered one of the greatest artists in the history of Western art. Approximately three hundred of his paintings survive today. This painting was created rather early in Rembrandt’s career, just a half dozen years after he opened his studio, and just three after his first sale of a painting.
Originally called “An Old Woman Reading”, and then later “Rembrandt’s Mother” (who was often a model for his paintings), it eventually became titled “The Prophetess Anna” based on several other of his paintings where Anna was the identified subject.2 3
So who is the Prophetess Anna4?
36 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, 37 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. 38 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 2:36-38
As with many of the master works of the Dutch Golden Age5 6, the subject was imagined in contemporary clothing, not the historically accurate garb of a first century Middle Eastern Jewish woman. So out of context of the title and associated other works of the artist, it might not be apparent that this is the Prophetess Anna.
What is a “Prophetess”?
A prophetess is a female prophet. The word prophet comes from the Greek word prophetes, which means “spokesman.” A prophet in the Bible is a person who proclaims God’s Word and therefore speaks for God—a spokesman for God. A prophetess was, therefore, a spokeswoman for God. The faithful prophet or prophetess was one who, regardless of whether or not he or she was listened to, spoke everything God said to speak.7
There are several prophetesses mentioned in scripture, women who proclaimed God’s word.
Miriam, sister to Moses and Aaron
20 Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.” Exodus 15:20-21
Deborah
4 At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. Judges 4:4-5
Huldah
14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she resided in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter, where they consulted her. 2 Kings 22:14
22 So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (who lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. 2 Chronicles 34:22
The unnamed mother of Isaiah’s son
3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; Isaiah 8:3
All were clearly called by God to proclaim God’s word, and the people, from kings and priests to all the people of Israel, listened to and highly respected the women who were God’s spokesperson.
The only named Prophetess of the New Testament is Anna, daughter of Phaneul. And if this seems important, it is. Anna confirms, publicly to Jesus’ parents Mary and Joseph, as spokesperson for God, that Simeon’s proclamation that the child Jesus was the promised Messiah.
A righteous and devout man approaches the parents, in the temple, and proclaims that He (the child) is the Messiah. And to put an exclamation point on it, God sends a prophetess to the parents right afterwards to confirm, with blessings from God, that this is true. “Praise be to God,” she proclaims. “This is the Messiah.”
Because Anna was known as a prophetess, and that she stayed in the temple fasting and praying all night and day, possibly for many years (indicated by her old age), her proclamations are joyfully accepted.
A woman, bringing God’s words to the world, being accepted as authoritative.
Is the painting of Anna, or just an old woman?
We cannot know for certain what Rembrandt intended. Like Anna from the scripture, she appears to us aged and knowledgeable. The book she holds in her hands is not intelligible to us, but she pours over it with rapt attention and apparent emotional connection and deep understanding. She knows what we yet do not. But the page is illuminated and therefore important. We must pay attention to both her presence and the news she brings us. We must listen for God’s word, brought to us by both prophets and prophetesses.
17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17
This speech by Peter to the crowd at Pentecost who questioned the meaning of the signs and wonders, was a reciting of the Old Testament scripture Joel 2:28-29 proclaiming the pouring out of God’s Spirit. It affirms the prophecies (delivery of God’s words) from both men and women, young and old, and calls us to be listeners looking to discern God’s messages.
What do you think?
How has your perception of the Rembrandt painting “Anna the Prophetess” changed as you meditated on the painting and on the associated scripture? Do you see God calling both men and women to bring his word and work to the world? Some Jewish and Christian scripture specifies that temple or church leadership be done by men, yet scripture shows that God also calls women. What do you think of this possible discrepancy?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobit_and_Anna_with_the_Kid ↩︎
- https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/rembrandt-anna-and-the-blind-tobit ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_the_Prophetess ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Golden_Age ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Golden_Age_painting ↩︎
- https://www.gotquestions.org/prophetess-Bible.html ↩︎
