Phanuel is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Phanuel was the father of Anna, the prophetess who appears in the Gospel of Luke. He is named only once in all of Scripture, in Luke 2:36, where Anna is introduced as “a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser.” Beyond this single mention, the Bible tells us nothing else about him—no deeds, no words, no further details of his life. He enters the sacred record solely as the father of a faithful daughter.
The setting in which his name appears is the temple in Jerusalem, at the time of Jesus’ presentation as an infant. Luke describes Anna as a woman “of a great age,” who had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity and then served God in the temple with fasting and prayer night and day. When Mary and Joseph brought the child Jesus to be presented according to the law, Anna came forward and gave thanks to the Lord, speaking of the child to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Phanuel himself was not present in the narrative and performed no recorded action. Yet his name is preserved in Scripture because his daughter became a witness to the Messiah. He belonged to the tribe of Aser, one of the northern tribes of Israel, and it is through Anna that his family line is remembered among those who awaited the consolation of Israel.
The Name
The name Phanuel is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Penuel (or Peniel), which is well established in meaning: it combines the Hebrew words for “face” and “God,” and is commonly understood as “face of God” or “the face of God.” This name first appears in Genesis in connection with Jacob, who named the place Peniel after wrestling with the angel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:30). The Greek rendering “Phanuel” carries this same sense into the New Testament text. The meaning is therefore clearly recoverable and not in doubt.
A Closing Thought
Phanuel never speaks a word in Scripture, never performs a deed, and never steps into the light of the story. Yet his name is written into the Gospel because he raised a daughter who spent her old age in prayer and recognized the Christ child when others did not. It is a quiet reminder that faithfulness often bears fruit we never live to see clearly. A parent’s ordinary devotion can shape a life that becomes a witness to the world. Phanuel’s legacy is not in what he did, but in the daughter who waited on God—and perhaps that is enough.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: New
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Luke 2:36 — And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;