6 And it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.
And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.
Wherefore I was displeased with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart: But they did not know my ways;
if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
And Jehovah repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people.
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us:
And with whom was he displeased forty years? was it not with them that sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of.
For I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? `how' shall I cast thee off, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? `how' shall I set thee as Zeboiim? my heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together.
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
I beheld the treacherous, and was grieved, Because they observe not thy word.
And he remembered for them his covenant, And repented according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
Forty years long was I grieved with `that' generation, And said, It is a people that do err in their heart, And they have not known my ways:
How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!
And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
For Jehovah will judge his people, And repent himself for his servants; When he seeth that `their' power is gone, And there is none `remaining', shut up or left at large.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 6
Commentary on Genesis 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
The most remarkable thing we have upon record concerning the old world is the destruction of it by the universal deluge, the account of which commences in this chapter, wherein we have,
Gen 6:1-2
For the glory of God's justice, and for warning to a wicked world, before the history of the ruin of the old world, we have a full account of its degeneracy, its apostasy from God and rebellion against him. The destroying of it was an act, not of an absolute sovereignty, but of necessary justice, for the maintaining of the honour of God's government. Now here we have an account of two things which occasioned the wickedness of the old world:-
Gen 6:3
This comes in here as a token of God's displeasure at those who married strange wives; he threatens to withdraw from them his Spirit, whom they had grieved by such marriages, contrary to their convictions: fleshly lusts are often punished with spiritual judgments, the sorest of all judgments. Or as another occasion of the great wickedness of the old world; the Spirit of the Lord, being provoked by their resistance of his motions, ceased to strive with them, and then all religion was soon lost among them. This he warns them of before, that they might not further vex his Holy Spirit, but by their prayers might stay him with them. Observe in this verse,
Gen 6:4-5
We have here a further account of the corruption of the old world. When the sons of God had matched with the daughters of men, though it was very displeasing to God, yet he did not immediately cut them off, but waited to see what would be the issue of these marriages, and which side the children would take after; and it proved (as usually it does), that they took after the worst side. Here is,
Gen 6:6-7
Here is,
Gen 6:8-10
We have here Noah distinguished from the rest of the world, and a peculiar mark of honour put upon him.
Gen 6:11-12
The wickedness of that generation is here again spoken of, either as a foil to Noah's piety-he was just and perfect, when all the earth was corrupt; or as a further justification of God's resolution to destroy the world, which he was now about to communicate to his servant Noah.
Gen 6:13-21
Here it appears indeed that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God's favour to him was plainly intimated in what he said of him, v. 8-10, where his name is mentioned five times in five lines, when once might have served to make the sense clear, as if the Holy Ghost took a pleasure in perpetuating his memory; but it appears much more in what he says to him in these verses-the informations and instructions here given him.
Gen 6:22
Noah's care and diligence in building the ark may be considered,