# 1 Ch 21:15 and 2 Sa 24:16.



## Jonathan (Dec 1, 2004)

I was just wondering about this verse... I don't fully understand what it means about, "he repented him of the evil". I know God cannot do evil but what exactly does it mean by "repented him". Please comment on it, thanks 


1Ch 21:15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 

2Sa 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite. 

[Edited on 12-1-2004 by Jonathan]


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## Contra_Mundum (Dec 2, 2004)

The word for "repent" has a literal meaning "to sigh, to breathe out forcefully," from which comes a derivative sense "to be sorry," but that is not necessarily "regret" as we well know from our own usage. Another sense is "comfort" either to ourselves or someone else. It indicates a settling down effect.

How to relate this to the passages:
"Comforting" or "settling down" doesn't seem to fit well in the context.
Noting that:
1) I can be sorry in the most general sense, in that I feel inward pain.
2) I can be sorry (feel pity) toward an injured person with whom I had nothing to do.
3) I can feel sorry because I had to spank my child, but not regret a single blow.
4) I can rue my behavior in some way, but this is not something God ever does. God's plan for this world and mankind has been going on without a hiccup since creation, and he never second-guesses himself.

I suggest that the third option best reflects God's action in this passage. "Evil" is best understood here as "calamity," certainly not moral evil, but from the persepective of those on the receiving end of God's judgment, it was a bad day, a day of trouble indeed. It was God's discipline.

We can take 2Sa 24:16, and render "repented him of the evil" this way:


> And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD *demonstrated his pity having accomplished the purpose for his discipline,* and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand.


Helpful?


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## Jonathan (Dec 2, 2004)

Just what I was looking for! Thanks!


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## alwaysreforming (Dec 2, 2004)

In reading the verses, it seems to have the effect of God sort of throwing a rope around the Angel to stop him, because God's purpose had been fulfilled; it had been enough.

It also seems to have that same effect because as the verse reads, He repented HIM (the angel), as in He stayed his hand, or gave the command to the front lines, "Halt!"

I only come to this conclusion because the following words, "It is enough," suggests that God was SATISFIED in what had been accomplished, not that He was REGRETFUL.

We have to deal with the same types of situations when the Lord "RELENTED", in Joshua I believe.


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