OK, does God "repent" or not?

Question

Someone pointed out in my last question that I should have used the word "repent" instead of "change his mind" from Numbers 3:19. I was using the NIV. He is right, according to the KJV, it should be "repent." So now my question is, "Does God repent or not?"

Numbers 3:19
God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of a man that he should repent.

Compared to
Exodus 32:14
And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

Oops, Numbers 23:19

Answer 1

I'm sorry I thought I made it clear.
YES.
Thanks to the intercession of Moses God repented and did not destroy the children of Israel.

Answer 2

You're dealing with context. In the first passage, it is being stated that God does not lie--he does not do wrong, therefore He does not need to repent of that. In the second, the word repent is used as it literally means--"pent" is the suffix meaning "five" and re is the prefix meaning, again. The word carries the connotation in the Hebrew (and English) of regrasping, with your hands. God is regrasping the situation here. Of course, God is a spirit, so he does not have hands. But this is as close to an understanding of Him as we can get. As far as evil goes, God did create evil. I don't have a problem with this. Let me tell you an apt illustration of what this means. To say the Lord created evil is like a parent watching his child--the child wants to do it his own way and the parent allows the child to exist and to live as if the parent did not matter. It is only when the child needs it most that he intervenes, before he gets hurt. Same with God. He decides to let us live without Him, which is the very definition of evil, and only steps in "repents", or regrasps, us out of His infinite mercy and love!

Answer 3

When God says that He does not change, He is speaking about His nature and character. But this does not mean that He cannot change how He works with people throughout history.
When we see God changing His mind, we are seeing it from a human perspective. Since God knows all things from all eternity, He as always known the ultimate plan that He would carry out; even the plan to "change His mind." As we have seen in Jonah's account of Nineveh. They repented and God relented from the destruction that was to come upon the inhabitants. Of course, God knew this would happen and instituted the warning to them in order to bring about their repentance. There is no mystery here.

Answer 4

In Exodus 32, I definitely think repent is the wrong word. God does not need to repent for anything because he does not make mistakes that he would need to repent for. In Numbers 3, the statement "the son of man" is referring to Jesus. And Jesus definitely never had to repent for anything either because he was conceived of without original sin.

Answer 5

The Hebrew term "Nacham" means among other things "a strong turning to a new course of action". As to the flood I would consider that a good example. So as far as our word repent as in I'm sorry or I made a mistake it does not mean that at all in this text.

Answer 6

Look in Genesis. God repented that he had made man. That's why he sent the flood.

Answer 7

The first means to turn away from your sins...God has never lied or sinned... so he doesn't need that type of repentence

The second is referring to changing His actions...He is a righteous Judge...he repented, of the action, to show His mercy

Here's the definition of the word used in the Hebrew, fo repent, in these verses...NOTE...it can mean several things

nâcham
naw-kham'
A primitive root; properly to sigh, that is, breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, that is, (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself): - comfort (self), ease [one’s self], repent (-er, -ing, self).

Here is another (more complete) definition for repent:

A primitive root; to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point); generally to retreat; often adverbially again: - ([break, build, circumcise, dig, do anything, do evil, feed, lay down, lie down, lodge, make, rejoice, send, take, weep]) X again, (cause to) answer (+ again), X in any case (wise), X at all, averse, bring (again, back, home again), call [to mind], carry again (back), cease, X certainly, come again (back) X consider, + continually, convert, deliver (again), + deny, draw back, fetch home again, X fro, get [oneself] (back) again, X give (again), go again (back, home), [go] out, hinder, let, [see] more, X needs, be past, X pay, pervert, pull in again, put (again, up again), recall, recompense, recover, refresh, relieve, render (again), X repent, requite, rescue, restore, retrieve, (cause to, make to) return, reverse, reward, + say nay, send back, set again, slide back, still, X surely, take back (off), (cause to, make to) turn (again, self again, away, back, back again, backward, from, off), withdraw.

Answer 8

God has nothing to repent for. God is perfect and with out sin. He is Divine.

Answer 9

I do not know