God does not make mistakes. As an omniscient, interdimensional mathematician capable of speaking realities into existence, it's impossible for Him to ever be in error.
Yet, there's a moment in the Bible where many people think God is showing that He actually is capable of goofing up, and it happens just before the flood. It's a verse that has tripped up many Christians and has been used by many an anti-theist to put Christians on the back foot about God being an all-powerful being.
The verse happens, as noted, just before the Genesis flood. In fact, it gives you God's inner thoughts... or at least what we can make of them.
Genesis 6:5-7 (ESV) reads:
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Now, normally I prefer the ESV because it tends to try to translate the Hebrew the Old Testament was written in as accurately as possible, but here it actually doubles down on the "God made a mistake" vibe in its attempt to accurately translate what was written.
And what was written isn't being well understood because, for all intents and purposes, it seems the actions follow through with the words God spoke. As you know by now, God expressed something that sounds like regret for creating us, then sent the flood, sparing only one family. A sort of reset, if you will.
But two words are carrying a lot of weight here, and they're "regretted" and "grieved." The Hebrew words being translated here are "Nacham" and "Atsab," respectively.
Nacham is the real problem word here. It suggests that God was looking at humanity being the most wicked it could be, and he wished he hadn't made us in the first place. The thing is, "regret" in this case isn't actually regret in the way that we would "regret." Nacham is used as a root word for many kinds of emotions, and it can mean regret, but with God, translating to "oops" is not on the table.
First Samuel 15:29 makes it clear that God does not make mistakes, saying He "will not lie or have regret, for He is not a man, that he should have regret."
But that's not good enough to understand what's being said here, so we're going to get into the nitty-gritty.
Genesis 5:29 actually has those root words show up after some lineage listing. It stops the entire show of talking about who begot who to pause on a guy named Lamech who, after his son is born, states, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”
Lamech's son's name was Noah, and the word that "relief" is translated from here is "nacham." As for "painful toil," the other root word "atsab" pops up.
So, in short, what we're actually looking at isn't a word concerning a specific negative feeling, but more of an emotional swing. God's "regret" and "sorry" are there. He's going through real pain and regret, but this isn't a mortal's regret or emotional pain as we would understand it. The Bible is using what's called "anthropopathism," or using human language and experience to give us a window into His thinking in some small way.
"Atsab" actually helps us understand what kind of pain He's experiencing. It's the same root word attributed to the pain of childbirth. God is regretting our choice to corrupt ourselves, and He's sorry we've come to this, just as a parent watches their teen or young adult son or daughter sink into depravity or corruption. You regret so much about what's going on, but you love them nonetheless.
Twice we were offered corruption from rebellious lower-elohim, and twice we accepted. We chose depravity again and again, and our Father was watching it happen, letting it play out, because he didn't make robots incapable of choice. He wanted children with free will who would love Him of their own volition.
But he couldn't tolerate the corruption we had accepted, neither physical nor spiritual. There was a bloodline to secure. The protoevangelion needed to be fulfilled, which meant steps had to be taken. So, God took Lamech's son aside and told him to build a boat of pitch and gopher wood that was this long and that wide. God sent pairs of animals to board with Noah and his sons and their wives, and then God proceeded to drown the corruption to death.
And that act itself shows that God was not regretful of making us. If He was, He wouldn't have even touched Noah. He wouldn't have even sent the flood. He would've just unmade us with a word and started over. Instead, he followed through with the prophecy He gave Lucifer. Someone was coming to right the wrongs done in the garden and beyond; he would be born from a woman of the race you helped corrupt, and He's going to come after you.
The protoevangelion would later be broken down in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son."
So, God was never taken off-guard by our wickedness. He knew how bad it would get. He didn't stop the entire thing once Eve bit the apple, knowing what would follow. He already had the solution in hand. The entire Old Testament is the story of the why and the how of Christ. Everything in it points to Him.
An omniscient God who was actually regretful that He made us wouldn't have gone through all that trouble. Yet He endured the incredible pain anyway, both emotional and physical. It's regret that it came to this, but it's combined with the love of a parent who will go to extreme lengths to save His children.
