Chronological timeline of texts tagged with God is a Character
About This Tag
Share:
Many biblical narratives treat God as a character within the story rather than a force directing it from outside. God reacts to events, is persuaded by people, regrets past decisions, changes course, learns new information, and is moved by what humans do or say. Mesopotamian literature shows the same pattern, with gods who regret the flood, are talked down by other gods, and respond to mortal action.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to Tag18th-century B.C.E.
Atrahasis
Ancient Near East
The gods wept with her for the country. She was sated with grief, she longed for beer (in vain). Where she sat weeping, (there the great gods) sat too, But, like sheep, could only fill their windpipes (with bleating). Thirsty as they were, their lips Discharged only the rime of famine. For seven days and seven nights The torrent, storm and flood came on. He put down Provided food The gods smelt the fragrance, Gathered like flies over the offering. When they had eaten the offering, Nintu got up and blamed them all, Whatever came over Anu who makes the decisions? Did Ellil (dare to) come for the smoke offering? (Those two) who did not deliberate, but sent the Flood Gathered the people to catastrophe- You agreed the destruction.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 6:6
Hebrew Bible
5 But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. 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.”
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 8:21
Hebrew Bible
20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done. 22 “While the earth continues to exist, planting time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 9:13
Hebrew Bible
12 And God said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: 13 I will place my bow35 in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the bow35 appears in the clouds,
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 11:7
Hebrew Bible
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. 6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” 8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why its name was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 18:21
Hebrew Bible
19 I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then the Lord will give to Abraham what he promised him.” 20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 21 that I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If not, I want to know.” 22 The two men turned and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 18:32
Hebrew Bible
30 Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak! What if 30 are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find 30 there.” 31 Abraham said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only 20 are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 20.” 32 Finally Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if 10 are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 10.” 33 The Lord went on his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 19:25
Hebrew Bible
23 The sun had just risen over the land as Lot reached Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. 25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back longingly and was turned into a pillar of salt. 27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. 29 So when God destroyed the cities of the region, God honored Abraham’s request. He removed Lot from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed the cities Lot had lived in.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 22:12
Hebrew Bible
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 12 “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 32:28
Hebrew Bible
26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, “unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” 28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, “but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” “Why do you ask my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, “Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived.”
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 43:30
Hebrew Bible
29 When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome by affection for his brother and was at the point of tears. So he went to his room and wept there.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Exodus 3:8
Hebrew Bible
7 The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 And now indeed the cry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Exodus 32:12
Hebrew Bible
10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.” 11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Exodus 34:6
Hebrew Bible
4 So Moses cut out two tablets of stone like the first; early in the morning he went up to Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. 6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” 8 Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Numbers 11:17
Hebrew Bible
15 But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.” 16 The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the Spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself. 18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the ears* of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, for life was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Numbers 11:18
Hebrew Bible
17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the Spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself. 18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the ears* of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, for life was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Numbers 14:13
Hebrew Bible
12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them—I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!” 13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear it—for you brought up this people by your power from among them— 14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said,
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Numbers 14:15
Hebrew Bible
14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said,
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Numbers 14:18
Hebrew Bible
17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ 19 Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.” 20 Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 9:28
Hebrew Bible
27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 28 Otherwise the people of the land from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.” 29 They are your people, your valued property, whom you brought out with great strength and power.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 29:23
Hebrew Bible
21 The Lord will single him out for judgment from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law. 22 The generation to come—your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places—will see the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. 24 Then all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger all about?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Judges 17:13
Hebrew Bible
10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser and priest. I will give you 10 pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” 11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah. 12 Micah paid the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house. 13 Micah said, “Now I know the Lord will make me rich because I have this Levite as my priest.”
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
1 Samuel 15:11
Hebrew Bible
10 Then the Lord’s message came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from me and has not done what I told him to do.” Samuel became angry and he cried out to the Lord all that night. 12 Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, “Saul has gone to Carmel where he is setting up a monument for himself.” Then Samuel left and went down to Gilgal.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
1 Samuel 15:35
Hebrew Bible
33 Samuel said, “Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women.” Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the Lord. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, while Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Until the day he died, Samuel did not see Saul again. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul, but the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
1 Kings 3:26
Hebrew Bible
25 The king then said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!” 26 The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were awakened. She said, “My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don’t kill him!” But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him. Let them cut him in two!” 27 The king responded, “Give the first woman the living child; don’t kill him. She is the mother.”
7th-5th Centuries B.C.E.
Isaiah 5:4
Hebrew Bible
2 He built a hedge around it, removed its stones, and planted a vine. He built a tower in the middle of it and constructed a winepress. He waited for it to produce edible grapes, but it produced sour ones instead. 3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard! 4 What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead? 5 Now I will inform you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there.
7th-5th Centuries B.C.E.
Isaiah 6:8
Hebrew Bible
6 But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.” 8 I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?” I answered, “Here I am, send me!” 9 He said, “Go and tell these people: “‘Listen continually, but don’t understand. Look continually, but don’t perceive.’
7th-5th Centuries B.C.E.
Isaiah 38:5
Hebrew Bible
3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, and how I have carried out your will.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 The Lord’s message came to Isaiah, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add 15 years to your life. 6 I will also rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city.”’” 7 Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said:
7th-5th Centuries B.C.E.
Isaiah 54:9
Hebrew Bible
8 In a burst of anger I rejected you momentarily, but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”says your Protector, the Lord. 9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood would never again cover the earth. In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you. 10 Even if the mountains are removed and the hills displaced, my devotion will not be removed from you, nor will my covenant of friendship be displaced,” says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.
6th Century B.C.E.
Hosea 11:8
Hebrew Bible
6 A sword will flash in their cities; it will destroy the bars of their city gates, and will devour them in their fortresses. 7 My people are obsessed with turning away from me; they call to Baal, but he will never exalt them! 8 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? I have had a change of heart. All my tender compassions are aroused. 9 I cannot carry out my fierce anger! I cannot totally destroy Ephraim! Because I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you—I will not come in wrath! 10 “He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the Lord; when he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.
6th Century B.C.E.
Hosea 12:4
Hebrew Bible
2 The Lord also has a covenant lawsuit against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. 3 In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God. 4 He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him! 5 As for the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is the name by which he is remembered! 6 But you must return to your God, by maintaining love and justice and by waiting for your God to return to you.
6th Century B.C.E.
Joel 2:13
Hebrew Bible
11 The voice of the Lord thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the Lord is great and terrible42—who can survive it? 12 “Yet even now,” the Lord says, “return to me with all your heart—with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Tear your hearts, not just your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love—often relenting from calamitous punishment. 14 Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, and leave blessing in his wake—a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God! 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion. Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly.
6th Century B.C.E.
Joel 2:14
Hebrew Bible
12 “Yet even now,” the Lord says, “return to me with all your heart—with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Tear your hearts, not just your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love—often relenting from calamitous punishment. 14 Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, and leave blessing in his wake—a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God! 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion. Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly. 16 Gather the people; sanctify an assembly! Gather the elders; gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom and the bride from her private quarters.
6th Century B.C.E.
Nahum 3:19
Hebrew Bible
17 Your courtiers are like locusts, your officials are like a swarm of locusts! They encamp in the walls on a cold day, yet when the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where they are. 18 Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria. Your officers are slumbering! Your people are scattered like sheep on the mountains, and there is no one to regather them. 19 Your destruction is like an incurable wound; your demise is like a fatal injury. All who hear what has happened to you will clap their hands for joy, for no one ever escaped your endless cruelty!
5th Century B.C.E.
Jeremiah 5:1
Hebrew Bible
1 The Lord said, “Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem. Look around and see for yourselves. Search through its public squares. See if any of you can find a single person who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. If you can, then I will not punish this city. 2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord. But the fact is, what they swear to is really a lie.” 3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected. They have become as hardheaded as a rock. They refuse to change their ways.
3rd Century B.C.E.
Jonah 3:9
Hebrew Bible
7 He issued a proclamation and said, “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water. 8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do. 9 Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die.” 10 When God saw their actions—that they turned from their evil way of living—God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and did not destroy them.
3rd Century B.C.E.
Jonah 3:10
Hebrew Bible
8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do. 9 Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die.” 10 When God saw their actions—that they turned from their evil way of living—God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and did not destroy them.
3rd Century B.C.E.
Jonah 4:2
Hebrew Bible
1 This displeased Jonah terribly and he became very angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. 3 So now, Lord, kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!” 4 The Lord said, “Are you really so very angry?”
3rd Century B.C.E.
LXX Genesis 6:6
Septuagint
5 And when the Lord God saw that the wicked deeds of humans were multiplied on the earth and that all think attentively in their hearts on evil things all the days, 6 then God considered that he had made humankind on the earth, and he thought it over. 7 And God said, “I will wipe out from off the earth humankind which I have made, from human to domestic animal and from creeping things to birds of the sky, for I have become angry that I have made them.”
3rd Century B.C.E.
LXX Numbers 11:18
Septuagint
17 And I will come down, and I will speak with you there, and I will take from the spirit that is on you, and I will place it on them, and they will assist you concerning the impulsive behavior of the people, and you will not bear them yourself alone. 18 And say to the people: ‘Purify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, since you have cried out before the Lord, saying, “Who will feed us with meat, because it was good for us in Egypt?” And the Lord will give you meat to eat, and you will eat meat. 19 Not one day will you eat, nor two, nor five days, nor ten days, not even twenty days!
1st Century B.C.E.
LXX Jonah 3:10
Septuagint
8 And the humans and livestock clothed themselves with sackcloth, and they cried out to God fervently, and each turned away from his evil way and away from the injustice of their hands, saying, 9 “Who knows whether God will reconsider and turn back from his angry wrath so that we will not perish?” 10 And God saw their efforts, that they turned away from their evil ways. So God reconsidered the evil that he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
195-175 B.C.E.
Sirach 48:22
Deuterocanon
20 But they called upon the Lord who is merciful, spreading out their hands toward him. The Holy One quickly heard them from heaven, and delivered them through Isaiah. 21 The Lord struck down the camp of the Assyrians, and his angel wiped them out. 22 For Hezekiah did what was pleasing to the Lord, and he kept firmly to the ways of his ancestor David, as he was commanded by the prophet Isaiah, who was great and trustworthy in his visions. 23 In Isaiah's days the sun went backward, and he prolonged the life of the king. 24 By his dauntless spirit he saw the future, and comforted the mourners in Zion.
200-50 B.C.E.
1 Enoch 55:2
Pseudepigrapha
1 After that, the Head of Days felt remorse and said: 'In vain have I destroyed all who dwell on the earth.' 2 He swore by His great name: 'From now on, I will not act this way towards all who dwell on the earth, and I will set a sign in the heavens: and this will be a pledge of good faith between Me and them forever, as long as heaven is above the earth. This is according to My command.'