GENESIS | 6:6 regretted — GEN568 In rabbinic Judaism, the two central conce...
GEN568 In rabbinic Judaism, the two central concepts were the One God and His Revealed Law. And each concept was itself the product of a synthesis of the mystical and the rational approaches. God was remote in transcendental, above and beyond all the forces of nature: “He is the place of the world, but the world is not His place.” Genesis Rabbah 68:10 How then are we to understand the many biblical passages which speak of His coming and going, His descending in ascending, His seeing and His wrath and delight? Genesis 7:6, 11:5, 35:13; Exodus 32:14, 34:51 Numbers 11;25, 12:5. One answer was to delegate these activities to the Divine Presence, or Schechinah, or to His Word, Memra, or to Glory, Kavod. The paradox of the all-knowing God, changing His Mind, as it were, and regretting the creation of man, is softened in Targum Onkelos where the feelings of regret are attributed to His Word [this verse]. The Lords “passing,” when Moses was in the cleft of the rock, is attributed in the same work to His Presence (Schechinah). Exodus 34:6-8 similarly the plea of Moses that the “Divine Face” accompany the people in their wondering is here interpreted as referring to the same Presence (Schechinah) Exodus 32:14-15. “The Cloud of the Lord,” was supposed to rest on the sanctuary in the wilderness, is rendered in the Targum as if the verse read “The cloud of the Glory of the Lord.” Exodus 40:38 AGUS 40-1
Source Key | AGUS |
Verse | 6:6 |
Keyword(s) | regretted |
Source Page(s) | (See end of excerpt) |