588. But the Lord is said to feel regret and to grieve at heart because these activities seem to lie at the core of all human mercy. The language of this passage, like that of many others in the Word, goes along with the appearance. The true nature of the Lord's mercy no one can know, because it infinitely transcends all human comprehension. But the nature of our own mercy we recognize, and that nature is to feel sorry and to grieve.

If we did not form an idea of mercy from some other feeling whose nature we do recognize, we could not think or learn anything about it at all. This is why human traits are frequently used to describe Jehovah's attributes, or in other words, the Lord's. For instance, Jehovah — the Lord — is said to punish, lead into crisis, destroy, and burn with anger, when the truth is that he never punishes anyone, never inflicts trouble on anyone, never destroys anyone, and never burns with anger. Because such claims are indeed made about the Lord, then, it follows that regret and grief are also attributed to him, since the one claim is a result of the other. This can be clearly seen from the following places in the Word.

[2] In Ezekiel:

My anger will be fulfilled, I will put my wrath to rest, and I will relent. (Ezekiel 5:13)

Since this verse ascribes anger and wrath to him, it also speaks of him as relenting. In Zechariah:

"Just as I thought to do evil when your ancestors aroused anger in me," Jehovah Sabaoth has said, "and I did not relent, so, in turn, will I think in those days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah." (Zechariah 8:14-15)

It says here that Jehovah thought to do evil when in reality he never thinks to do evil to anyone but good to each and every person. In Moses, when Moses entreated Jehovah:

"Turn back from the wrath of your anger and relent from the evil done to your people." And Jehovah relented from the evil that he had said he would do to his people. (Exodus 32:12, 14)

Here too wrath and anger are attributed to Jehovah and he is therefore said to have relented. In Jonah, the king of Nineveh said:

Who knows? Perhaps God will turn and relent, to turn back from the heat of his anger, and we will not be destroyed. (Jonah 3:9)

Once again he is said to relent because he is said to have been angry.

[3] In Hosea:

A change of heart has come over me; at the same time my regrets have burned. I will not carry out the wrath of my anger. (Hosea 11:8-9)

This too speaks of his heart and the regrets burning there, just as the verse under discussion says that he grieved at heart. The regrets clearly stand for great mercy. Likewise in Joel:

Turn back to Jehovah your God, since he is indulgent and compassionate, patient and abounding in mercy, and regretful over evil. (Joel 2:13)

In this place as well regret plainly symbolizes mercy. In Jeremiah:

If perhaps they listen and turn back, a man from his wicked way, and I regret the evil ... (Jeremiah 26:3)

Having regret stands for having mercy. In the same author:

If that nation turns back from its evil, I will relent from evil. (Jeremiah 18:8)

Again, relenting stands for having mercy — if they turn back. We are the ones who turn away from the Lord's mercy; the Lord never turns away from us.