So the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Then the Lord said, “I will wipe out mankind whom I have created from the face of the land; mankind, and animals as well, and crawling things, and the birds of the sky. For I am sorry that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:6-7 (NASB)
Twice in Genesis 6, the text says God was “sorry” He made humanity. The KJV renders this word as “repented.” Both work and are contained in this word “nawkham.”
But something no translation does is point out that this word also carries an implication of “comforting.”
I. to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted
I. (Niphal)
1. to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
2. to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
3. to comfort oneself, be comforted
4. to comfort oneself, ease oneself
H5162: נָחַם (nāḥam)
It strikes me when a word is use twice in rapid succession in the text, as though the author is drawing our attention to it. This isn’t a grammatical requirement; the text doesn’t have to say “sorry” twice… but it does.
And it’s this idea of “comfort” that seems to ring.
The other time we heard this word “comfort” was in the previous chapter, when we are told about Noah’s birth. Noah’s name is related to “comfort.”
And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will give us comfort from our work and from the hard labor of our hands caused by the ground which the Lord has cursed.”
Genesis 5:29 (NASB)
And what do we see? Comfort from what? From the work and hard labor from the ground God cursed.
If we jump back to Genesis 6, where God said he was sorry he “made them,” we have another fascinating connection to Noah.
While “awsah” does mean “make,” it also means… “to work.”
As in… “to work the man.”
I. (Qal)
1. to do, work, make, produce
2. to do
3. to work
4. to deal (with)
5. to act, act with effect, effect
H6213: עָשָׂה (ʿāśâ)
Consider this tie of Genesis 5 and 6 together:
Humanity cried out for COMFORT from their WORKS. God is “sorry” or “repents” TWICE, meeting their cry for COMFORT. He was grieved because their WORK led to their misery.
When God cursed the ground in Genesis 3, humanity had to toil and work, and this work became a great suffering and misery to humanity. They cried out once… and God responded twice: “nawkham, nawkham.”
Perhaps limiting their lives to 120 years shortens the suffering.