When people sincerely repent, they do so because they are sorry for having committed what the Bible calls sin.  In contrast, because God is absolutely holy and, therefore, sinless, there is no need for Him to repent.  (Among the numerous scriptures that state God is holy are the following: Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:26; 21:8; Joshua 24:19; 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 22:2-3; 71:22; 78:41; 99:5, 9; Isaiah 5:16; 6:3; 43:15; and Ezekiel 39:7.)  As a result, most people who believe in the Judeo-Christian God have difficulty imagining  that He would ever need to repent.

So, which scriptures state that God repented?  First, we will consider several scriptures in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, which was published in 1611, and then we will consider the same scriptures in a couple of the relatively recent versions of the Bible.

[Note: When bold print is shown in the scriptures that we quote in this article, it is to focus on certain words that we will be addressing in our subsequent discussion.]

Scriptures from the Original King James Version of the Bible

Although God is holy, the immediately following scriptures in the original KJV Bible specifically state that God repented on various occasions.

Genesis 6:6-7: [I]t repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.  And the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.”

Exodus 32:14: [T]he Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people.

Judges 2:18: [W]hen the Lord raised them [i.e., the Israelites] up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

1 Samuel 15:35: Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul; and the Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel.

Jonah 3:10: [After the people of Nineveh repented] God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.

The key to comprehending these verses of scripture is to understand the meaning of the term that is translated as repented.  According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word repent means “to feel sorry or self-reproachful for what one has done or failed to do; be conscience-stricken or contrite,” or “to feel such regret or dissatisfaction over some past action intention, etc. as to change one’s mind about.”

In contrast, Strong’s Concordance states that the term translated as repented in each of the previously-quoted scriptures means “to make a strong turning to a new course of action.”  Strong goes on to state, “The stress is not upon new information or new facts which cause the change as it is upon the visible action taken.”

Scriptures from Relatively Recent Versions of the Bible

Many, if not most, of the relatively recent versions of the Bible are in accord with Strong in their translations of the word that the KJV translates as repented with regard to the previously-quoted scriptures (i.e., they do not use the word repented in describing God’s reaction to what had occurred).  So, we will examine the wording that is used by two of the relatively recent versions of the Bible: the New King James Version (NKJV) and the New International Version (NIV).

With regard to Genesis 6:6-7, the NKJV states, “[T]he Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.  So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’”

Similarly, the NIV says in reference to the same scripture, “The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain.  So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.’”

And, in reference to Exodus 32:14, the wording in the NKJV is: “So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.”

Likewise, the NIV states with regard to this scripture, “Then the Lord relented and did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened.”

In the NKJV, the translation of Judges 2:18, is: “[W]hen the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them.”

The NIV provides a similar account of this scripture, as follows: “Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, He was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.”

In regard to 1 Samuel 15:35, the NKJV declares, “Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death.  Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.”

The NIV similarly asserts with reference to this scripture, “Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him.  And the Lord was grieved that He had made Saul king over Israel.”

The wording of Jonah 3:10 is as follows in the NKJV: [After the people of Nineveh repented] “God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”

Likewise, the NIV says in reference to this scripture, “When God saw what they [the people of Nineveh] did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.”

Conclusion

The preceding scriptures in the NKJV and the NIV (also, in many of the other relatively recent versions of the Bible) do not state or otherwise indicate that God repented for what He previously had done.  Therefore, the word repented that is used in some of the other translations of the Bible with regard to God’s responses to various situations should not be regarded as indicating that God was contrite.  God does not sin, so there is no need for Him to be contrite or repent.

[Note: Since many, if  not most, of the recent versions of Bible that we have cited in this article state that God experiences sorrow, grief, or regret with regard to the matters that we have discussed, we will briefly discuss these feelings of God in the Appendix that follows.]

Appendix

Does God Experience Sorrow, Grief, or Regret?

As previously mentioned, many, if not most, of the relatively recent versions of the Bible indicate that God experiences sorrow, grief, or regret, because of various circumstances that occur contrary to His desire.  This may lead some people to ask: Why would God have such responses if He is omniscient, since He would know in advance what will occur? [For a discussion of God’s omniscience, click on “Is God Really Omnipotent and Omniscient?”]

Assuming that the terminology in the previously-quoted scriptures from the two specifically-cited relatively recent versions of the Bible does adequately describe God’s thoughts and feelings, the following analogy might be appropriate:  Even when we as humans are aware that a tragedy will occur – or, at least, is very likely to occur – due to certain circumstances, we are apt to experience sorrow, grief, and/or regret when the tragedy actually occurs.  An example would be the death of someone we loved very much, who had an illness with a high fatality rate.  Although we realized that the death of that person was probably imminent, it is likely that, nevertheless, we would mourn the actual death of that person.  Perhaps, the same is true for God.  Despite knowing beforehand the eventual outcome of every situation, God may grieve when a tragic outcome becomes a reality.

However, there may be a serious impediment to our understanding of whether or not God actually experiences sorrow, grief, or regret.  The responses of God that are described in the scriptures that we have quoted in this article are described in human terms that we can understand and to which we can relate.  These responses may not adequately describe God’s thoughts and/or feelings.  Because God in His divine form is a supernatural being, it is uncertain whether or not human terminology can satisfactorily communicate the thoughts and feelings that God has in situations such as those that we have addressed in this article.