No Regrets! Gen 6:6-7 and LXX’S Rendering of Anthropopathies
(2026) Themes and Text: Genesis and Beyond — ISBN: [978-0-567-70548-8], accepted/in-press
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- Abstract
- The notion of divine repentance in the Hebrew Bible has long posed interpretive and theological challenges. The Hebrew verb נחם, used of God – especially in its Niphal and Hithpael forms – has traditionally been understood to signal divine regret or change of mind, thereby raising significant questions about the nature of God’s immutability and impassability.1 Notably, Num 23:19 declares that “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should repent/change his mind (NIV),” 2 suggesting that repentance is anthropopathic and therefore incompatible with the divine nature. Nonetheless, the Pentateuch attributes נחם to God in several key passages, including Gen 6:6-7, Exod 32:12, 14, Num 23:19, and Deut 32:36. This study investigates the Greek translation of נחם in the LXX-Pentateuch, with a special focus on Gen 6:6-7.3 It asks whether the LXX reflects an intentional avoidance of divine repentance (as often claimed.
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Citations
De Doncker, E. (2026). No Regrets! Gen 6:6-7 and LXX’S Rendering of Anthropopathies. In Robert J. V. Hiebert, Jonathan Numada , Dongshin Don Chang, Kyung S. (ed.), Themes and Text: Genesis and Beyond. T & T Clark.