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Friday, October 28, 2016

Can God repent?

The common translations of Genesis 6:6 state that God repented.  How can that be?

The Hebrew root that you are referring to is μ3j3n, and the core of the problem is one of translation only, I think.  The English term ‘repent’ has become an important theological term with specific implications that are not appropriate to this Hebrew word.

The Greek NT has two different words that are commonly translated by the English term ‘repent’: μεταμελομαι and μετανοεω.  As I am sure you are aware, these two words do not quite mean the same thing.  The first means ‘change one’s mind’ with emphasis on regret; the second also means ‘change one’s mind,’ and though regret or remorse may be present, the emphasis is on the change of mind itself.  Both of these verbs are regularly used in the LXX to translate μ3j3nMετανοεω is used in both instances in the LXX text of 1 Sam 15:29, and μεταμελομαι is used in 1 Sam 15:35; but a totally different verb -- ενθυμεομαι (reflect on, ponder) – is used in Gen 6:6.  The same Hebrew root occurs in Gen 6:7, but the LXX again contains a different verb - θυμοω (be very angry).  Clearly, the translator of this LXX passage felt the same conflict that you are expressing.  (The latter two Greek verbs are normally used to translate two other completely unrelated Hebrew roots.)

Similarly, Hebrew has at least two roots that are sometimes translated by ‘repent’: μ3j3n and b3w3v.  The root b3w3v has the primary meaning of ‘return’ and is closest to the Semitic idea of ‘repent’, which emphasizes action and conduct rather than a change in thinking.  Both God and man may be the subject of b3w3v, and the most common expression of repentance from the Semitic perspective is ‘Return to Me, and I (YHWH) will return to you.’  In contrast, the root μ3j3n does not correspond to the modern theological concept of ‘repent’ particularly well, but that is not a very satisfactory final answer.  The root μ3j3n occurs a little more than 100 times in the Hebrew bible, and more than half of these occur in the niphal stem.  BDB lists the following meanings for the niphal of this root:

·         be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion (for others, or absolute)
·         be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent (due to one’s own actions, or absolute)
·         comfort oneself, be comforted (absolute, or concerning evil)
·         be relieved, ease oneself (by taking vengeance)

Of these, the second has the most citations, and BDB lists each of the passages mentioned above under this category.  Differences in specific verbal form will alter the aspect, but it will not significantly alter the meaning.  Yet, one of these passages says that God does μ3j3n, and the other says that God does not.  So, what is the difference?

Gen 6:6,7 – And YHWH regretted that he had made man in the land, and he was grieved in his heart.  So YHWH said, ‘I will obliterate man whom I created from the face of the earth – man, beast, creeping things, and the birds in the sky – because I regret that I have made them.

The same root occurs in these two verses.  The first instance is a 3ms imperfect with the vav-consecutive, and the second is a 1cs perfect.  Both have a relative clause introduced by yKi as direct object expressing the cause of this particular response.  The content of the response is grief or internal pain because of the actions of an external agent (man), who was the object of God’s creative activity and his love.  Because of this internal pain, God resolved to undo his original creative act – but not completely.  (At this point, God cannot completely obliterate his creation, because he has already promised that it will be redeemed:  Let every man prove to be a liar, but God must be true.)

1 Sam 15:10, 11 Then the word of YHWH came to Samuel: ‘I regret that I made Saul to reign as king because he has turned away from me and my words; he has not carried out (his assignment).’  So Samuel became angry, and he cried out to YHWH all night long.

This passage contains a 1cs perfect form and has exactly the same syntactic structure as that in Gen 6:6, so I take it to have the same meaning.  God’s action was to make Saul king over Israel, and the result was the disobedience of Saul, who operated as a free agent.  God’s response is regret over his original action.  In the previous context, God mostly obliterated what he had done, so one might expect the same kind of response here.

1 Sam 15:27-29           And Samuel turned to go, but he (Saul) grabbed his (Samual's) robe with his hand, and it was torn.  So Samuel said to him, ‘YHWH has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and he will give it to your neighbor who is better than you.  Moreover, the Eminence of Israel does not deal falsely, and he will not suffer grief (repent), for he is not human (adam) to be moved to compassion (repent).’

The question, then, is how to understand the two occurrences of the root μ3j3n. in this passage.  The syntactical arrangement is different from the previous occurrences because it occurs without any verbal complement.  One could assert that the complement – the judgement on Saul – is implied by context.  Using this interpretive approach, the passage asserts that YHWH has pronounced his judgement, and he will not change his mind.  However, in my opinion this interpretation neglects the immediately preceding context.  Saul was being judged for failing to completely perform God’s instructions by keeping back the best of the flocks alive.  He may have been prompted by greed, but he blamed the people he was leading for wanting to keep the best animals, and then he begged to be excused for dealing falsely with YHWH.  I think this understanding is demanded by these three verses.  Unlike Saul, YHWH does not deal falsely with him or anyone else.  Consequently, he will not excuse one who has dealt falsely with him.  Moreover, he will not suffer grief over the imposition of judgement on Saul, and he will not experience the compassion that one human might have for another who really is guilty and deserving of punishment.  Interestingly, verse 35 states that Samuel mourned over Saul the rest of his life, but YHWH regretted (μ3j3n) that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Now, your wider question is: Does God repent (meaning change his mind and subsequent actions)?  My answer is yes, but the repentance of God is not like the repentance of humans.  Humans repent when they become convinced that their personal conduct, speech, thoughts, or intents of heart are at variance with an external standard that they accept as valid and binding.  Believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob accept the Scriptures as that standard.  Believers in Yeshua accept him as the embodiment of that standard and authoritative interpreter of the Scriptures.  Repentance for a human, then, involves recognizing one’s personal deviation from the external standard that he accepts as valid and turning back (b3w3v) to conformity with that standard.  Grief over past conduct is an appropriate response, but such grief is not equivalent to repentance.  Judas regretted his betrayal of Yeshua, but he did not repent; Esau regretted not receiving the blessing of the first born, but again he did not repent.  Their lack of true repentance is born out by their subsequent actions.

Since YHWH is the absolute source for the standard of right and wrong, he cannot be at variance with himself, so the human pattern for repentance cannot apply to him.  But God is absolutely just and righteous; so if human conditions demanding judgement change, his administration of judgement also changes appropriately.  This is stated in a number of different ways in scripture, but perhaps one example will suffice:

Jonah 3:10       And God saw their deeds, that they had turned away (b3w3v) from their evil ways, so God repented (μ3j3n) concerning the calamity about which he had spoken, and he did not do it.



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