Biblegems # 293
Question: The book of Numbers (23:19) seems to indicate that
God never repents. Yet other passages give examples of God repenting. Does God
repent?
Here is
Numbers 23:19 in the King James Version:
Num.
23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie;
neither the son of man, that he should repent:
hath he said, and shall he not do it?
or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
In
apparent contrast to the verse above, there are several examples where God is presented
as repenting:
Ex. 32:14 And the
LORD repented of the evil which
he thought to do unto his people.
This
apparent contradiction is primarily one of proper translation from the Hebrew word
nacham into English. Nacham means “comfort,” “console,” or
“relent,”[i]
depending on the context. Nacham is
used in both Numbers 23 and Exodus 32. In Ex. 32:14 the translation should
read: “Then the Lord relented and
did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” In fact, of
the thirty-eight times nacham is used
in the Bible, only twice could it be used to mean “repent,” and those two
occasions refer to people repenting, not God.
In
Numbers 23:19 nacham should likewise
be translated “relent” (meaning, “change”)
rather than “repent.” The passage compares God against man: that God does not
lie and He is not fickle. When He says He will do something, He does it.
1Sam. 15:29 “He who
is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human
being, that he should change his mind.”
Even so,
Exodus 32:14 states that God did indeed “relent”—He
changed His punishment against the Hebrews for building the golden calf in the
Wilderness. Yet He did so without violating His own character, for God Himself
has repeatedly stated three conditions where He will change His attitude and
actions toward people: (1) when people repent (Jer. 18:3-11); (2) when someone
intercedes on behalf of others (Amos 7:1-6); and (3) out of His own compassion
(Dt. 32:36).
“Repent,” as it’s used today, carries with it
emotional and spiritual overtones. In the 1600’s language of the KJV Bible, the
word could be used as a synonym for “relent,” and the average reader would
understand without difficulty. Because language changes, modern translations
often use “relent” instead of “repent” in these and similar passages.
There is
no contradiction. When God “relents,”
He chooses a pre-planned alternate route to fulfill His promises, in keeping
with His character:
Ps. 106:45 …for
their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
[i] BDB Abridged. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old
Testament (abridged) (BDB). Based on A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old
Testament, by F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907. Digitized and abridged as a part of the
Princeton Theological Seminary Hebrew Lexicon Project under the direction of
Dr. J. M. Roberts. Used by permission.
Electronic text corrected, formatted, and hypertexted by OakTree Software, Inc.
This electronic adaptation ©2001 OakTree Software, Inc. Version 3.6
