Texts in Conversation
Genesis 6 says that God “regretted” making humans, using a Hebrew word that can mean to repent. The Greek Septuagint changes this to say God “became angry,” a theologically motivated translation that removes the image of God changing his mind.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 6:7
Hebrew Bible
6 The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out* humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 6:7
Septuagint
6 then God laid it to heart that he had made man upon the earth, and he pondered it deeply. 7 And God said, I will blot out man whom I have made from the face of the earth, even man with cattle, and reptiles with flying creatures of the sky, for I am angry that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace before the Lord God.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Whereas the concept of God’s wrath can be justified with respect to pedagogy, the concept of God’s repentance causes difficulties in another way. If God would repent of something, he would not be truly wise; he would be less than a Stoic sage. The verb נחם ("to repent") is semantically polyvalent. When God is the subject, the Septuagint translators usually avoid µετανοέω (metanoeō, "to repent") as a counterpart. The verbs µεταµελέοµαι ("to regret") and παρακέκληµαι (parakeklēmai, "to console" or "to comfort") recall other semantic nuances of נחם. Other translations are context-based. The rendering θυµόω ("to become angry") in Genesis 6:7 occurs in a context that envisages the almost complete elimination of humankind ..."
Martin Meiser, The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 23.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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