Does God repent? In Genesis 6, we read:

⁶ And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

The Hebrew word for sorry is nacham, meaning to comfort, to repent, to relent, to be sorry (H5162). Twice God stated that He was sorry for making man (Genesis 6:6-7). Why would God feel sorry? During Noah’s time, every thought and intention in the hearts of men was wicked; this wickedness led to the Lord flooding the whole earth and starting over with Noah’s family (Genesis 6:5).

To answer the question why would God feel sorry?, let’s read about the Apostle Paul and his response to the church in Corinth:

⁸ For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. ⁹ Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (2 Corinthians 7, bold added)

The Corinthians made Paul grieve, just as the wicked men in Genesis 6 made God grieve. Paul’s warning to the Corinthians led them to godly sorrow; however, God’s warning through Noah did not lead the wicked men to godly sorrow (1 Peter 3:18-20; 2 Peter 2:5). Thus, they did not receive salvation like Noah and his family had… nor much later, like the Corinthians had (see 2 Corinthians 7:10 and 1 Peter 3:20).

Does this mean that God did not repent for making man? Repentance simply means to change one’s mind (H5162). Changing one’s mind does not necessarily mean there is evidence of sin. In fact, the Apostle Paul states that he did both change his mind and not change his mind (2 Corinthians 7:8). The word used in this Scripture is metamelomai, which means to repent, to regret, to change one’s mind (G3338). For easier understanding, here are three paraphrases of 2 Corinthians 7:8-9, according to the definition of metamelomai:

• For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret that it produced godly sadness and repentance to salvation; though I did regret making you sad in your heart.
• For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not repent, for it produced godly sorrow and repentance to salvation; though I did repent for making you sorrowful in your heart.
• For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not change my mind because it had, in fact, produced godly grief and repentance to salvation; though I did have a change of mind for making you grieve in your heart.

In other words, Paul was sorry and not sorry. In the same light, God Himself can be sorry and not sorry. In the case of Genesis 6, God was sorrowful (repentant, changed His mind) for making man (H5162). Does this mean that God sinned or messed up by making man? Let me ask this instead: did Paul sin by making the Corinthians? Did Paul not beget the Corinthians through the gospel in Christ Jesus as a father who begets a son (1 Corinthians 4:14-15)? The Greek word for beget is gennaó, meaning to beget, to give birth, to bring forth, to produce (G1080). Therefore, Paul did not sin for making the Corinthian believers, but he did repent/regret/change his mind concerning them. As for God Himself, He did not sin by making man, but He did repent/regret/change His mind for making them in Genesis 6.