And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the
earth,
&c.] Because of the wickedness of man, the wickedness of his
heart, and the wickedness of his life and conversation, which was
so general, and increased to such a degree, that it was
intolerable; wherefore God could have wished, as it were, that he
had never made him, since he proved so bad; not that repentance,
properly speaking, can fall upon God, for he never changes his
mind or alters his purposes, though he sometimes changes the
course and dispensations of his providence. This is speaking by
an anthropopathy, after the manner of men, because God determined
to do, and did something similar to men, when they repent of
anything: as a potter, when he has formed a vessel that does not
please him, and he repents that he has made it, he takes it and
breaks it in pieces; and so God, because of man's wickedness, and
to show his aversion to it, and displicency at it, repented of
his making him; that is, he resolved within himself to destroy
him, as in the next verse, which explains this:
and it grieved him at his heart;
this is to be understood by the same figure as before, for there
can, no more be any uneasiness in his mind than a change in it;
for God is a simple Being, uncompounded, and not subject to any
passions and affections. This is said to observe his great hatred
to sin, and abhorrence of it.
