1 Samuel 2:3
“Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Proud talk falls silent before a God who knows everything and weighs every deed with perfect fairness.
Context
Part of Hannah's song of praise after God answered her years of grief with a son, Samuel, whom she has just given back to God's service (1 Samuel 1:27-28; 2:1). Long mocked for her childlessness, she now sings about a God who sees the truth that proud tongues cannot.
What Does 1 Samuel 2:3 Mean?
Hannah had endured years of being looked down on, her rival speaking proudly against her in her pain (1 Samuel 1:6-7). Now she sings, and she calls the boasting to a halt. Let the arrogant words stop, she says, because they are spoken in front of a God who already knows everything. He is a God of knowledge, and He weighs our actions on scales that never tip unfairly. Nothing is hidden from Him, and nothing is judged wrongly by Him.
There is deep comfort here for anyone who has been belittled. The God who weighs all things sees what others miss, and He lifts up the lowly, a theme Hannah sings through this whole prayer. Generations later Mary picked up Hannah's song almost word for word as she carried Jesus, the One who would scatter the proud and exalt the humble. In Christ, the God who weighs every action stooped down to raise us up.
In the Original Language
takan (תָּכַן), 'weighed' -- to measure or test on a scale, to assess exactly and judge fairly.
Application
When we have been looked down on, or tempted to look down on others, this verse resets us before the only One whose measure is true. He knows the full story, weighs it justly, and has a tender bias toward the lowly. We can let our boasting fall quiet and rest in being fully known.