What Divine Regret in 1 Samuel Is Really Doing
God regrets making Saul king.
The text states it plainly in 1 Samuel 15: I regret that I have made Saul king. The Hebrew word nacham carries genuine emotional weight, the same word used when God grieves making humanity in Genesis 6, the same word used when God relents from judgment after Israel repents.
And then, in the same chapter, Samuel tells Saul: The Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man that He should change His mind. Same Hebrew word. Same chapter.
God regrets, and God does not change His mind.
How can both be true?
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