Elkanah, the father of the Old Testament prophet Samuel, had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah (I Samuel 1). Peninnah had children, but Hannah was barren. In a mean-spirited way, Peninnah “provoked” Hannah because of her infertility. When Elkanah and his wives went up to the house of the Lord to worship, Hannah prayed silently to God, vowing that if He would give her a son, she would give the child to the Lord all the days of his life.<\/p>\n
The priest Eli observed Hannah praying, seeing her mouth move, but not hearing her words. Eli concluded that Hannah was drunk and rebuked her, saying, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!” When Hannah explained that she was praying with great grief, Eli recognized his error and blessed her.<\/p>\n
We all fall prey to Eli’s mistake from time to time. To make sense of the world around us, we must assign meaning to the actions of others. We observe someone’s behavior and we frequently conclude that person based on his action. Actually, we respond to the meaning that we assign to the action rather than the action itself. And sometimes, like Eli, we make invalid assumptions. Even if we succeed in being objective in our judgment, frequently, there is more than one possible explanation for one’s behavior. Eli’s inappropriate rebuke was the result of his error in assigning meaning to her action.<\/p>\n
It is not difficult to see how all this applies to us. A friend or neighbor does something, and we begin assigning reasons to their action. “He said that for the purpose of hurting me.” “She did that just to spite me.” “I know that she said that about me, even though she didn’t mention me by name.” Often, the truth is that the speaker had no such motives. Unfortunately, friendships are sometimes destroyed because someone made unwarranted assumptions about another’s actions or speech.<\/p>\n
This danger of making unwarranted assumptions also exists in our study of the Scriptures. It is easy to insert our own thoughts as we decide what the Bible is teaching us. If we are not careful, we will accept the opinions of other men without realizing that the Bible does not actually say such things. For an excellent illustration of this, ask your friends what kind of forbidden fruit Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden. Why, an apple, of course! Where does the Bible identify the kind of forbidden fruit? We must differentiate between God’s speech and our assumptions.<\/p>\n
How can we avoid this pitfall of accepting incorrect conclusions? With respect to the Word of God, the careful Bible student will read and re-read the Word. He will test his religious convictions by what he has read. Avoiding unwarranted assumptions could possibly save some friendships and perhaps our souls also.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Allen Dvorak via Gospel Power Vol. 15, No. 14, April 6, 2008. Elkanah, the father of the Old Testament prophet Samuel, had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah (I Samuel 1). Peninnah had children, but Hannah was barren. In a mean-spirited way, Peninnah “provoked” Hannah because of her infertility. When Elkanah and his wives went…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[713],"class_list":["post-55984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-judging-others"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68215,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-be-a-peninnah\/","url_meta":{"origin":55984,"position":0},"title":"Don\u2019t Be a Peninnah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Peninnah provoked Hannah severely to \"make her miserable\" (1 Sam.1:6). If you don't have anything better in life to do than to make someone miserable, you have made yourself pretty worthless. The story shows a serious flaw in the arrangement of polygamy, but it also shows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62679,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hannahs-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":55984,"position":1},"title":"Hannah’s Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Samuel 1:9-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I Thessalonians 5:17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a short passage, but it isn\u2019t short on meaning. What is meant \u201cwithout ceasing?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul isn\u2019t talking about a 24-hour a day, non-stop prayer. There are other things which must be accomplished in life. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33389,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-make-hannah-wait-so-long-before-having-a-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":55984,"position":2},"title":"Why did God make Hannah wait so long before having a child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Today we read about Hannah finally giving birth to Samuel. Why did it take so long? Why did God close her womb until Samuel? Answer: We aren't told why God had Hannah wait. \"Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-sad-and-complex-situation\/","url_meta":{"origin":55984,"position":3},"title":"A sad and complex situation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This is sad and complicated. Katie married Joe, and neither were previously married. It is unknown if they were believers.\u00a0Katie and Joe divorced. The reason is unknown, but it is rumored to be because Joe didn't want kids. Katie had a child with Ken before her divorce from Joe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3152,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-samuel-offer-a-burnt-offering-when-he-was-not-a-levite\/","url_meta":{"origin":55984,"position":4},"title":"How could Samuel offer a burnt offering when he was not a Levite?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How could Samuel offer a burnt offering when he was not a Levite? Answer: Samuel was a descendant of Levi, his lineage being traced in\u00a0I Chronicles 6:33-38. Samuel was born in the territory of Ephriam, where his family had lived for several generations. \"Now there was a certain man\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-womans-womb-be-reopened\/","url_meta":{"origin":55984,"position":5},"title":"Can a woman’s womb be reopened?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a woman's womb be reopened? Answer: I'm not certain as to what you are trying to ask. 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