Genesis 6:6

6 then God laid it to heart that he had made man upon the earth, and he pondered deeply.

Genesis 6:6 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 6:6

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.

Genesis 6:6 In-Context

4 Now the giants were upon the earth in those days; and after that when the sons of God were wont to go in to the daughters of men, they bore to them, those were the giants of old, the men of renown.

5 And the Lord God, having seen that the wicked actions of men were multiplied upon the earth, and that every one in his heart was intently brooding over evil continually,

6 then God laid it to heart that he had made man upon the earth, and he pondered deeply.

7 And God said, I will blot out man whom I have made from the face of the earth, even man with cattle, and reptiles with flying creatures of the sky, for I am grieved that I have made them.

8 But Noe found grace before the Lord God.