The Qur'an as the Criterion · God's Oneness Guarded
God regretting and changing His mind
In short
- 1.The Bible: the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth (Gen 6:6).
- 2.The Bible: the LORD relented from the disaster he had spoken of bringing (Ex 32:14).
- 3.The Qur'an: with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He (Q 6:59).
The claim being examined
Genesis 6:6 says the LORD regretted that He had made man and was grieved in His heart, and Exodus 32:14 has Moses talk Him out of a decision.
The Islamic position
The Qur'an holds that God knows what was, what is and what will be, and His word is not changed before Him.
Analysis
Two related portrayals sit in the Hebrew Bible. In Genesis 6:6 God regrets (nacham) creating humanity and is grieved in His heart; in Exodus 32:11-14 Moses argues with Him — invoking Egypt's likely mockery and the covenant with the patriarchs — and God relents from the disaster He had announced. Elsewhere the same scriptures insist the opposite: "God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind" (Num 23:19), and "the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret" (1 Sam 15:29), the latter in the same chapter that says twice that He regretted making Saul king. Christian theology usually resolves this as anthropopathism, and that resolution deserves acknowledgement. The Qur'an gives no such material to resolve. Q 6:59 places the keys of the unseen with Him alone, and states that not a leaf falls but He knows it; Q 50:29 says "the word will not be changed with Me"; Q 21:23 states that He is not questioned about what He does. Islam does teach that supplication changes outcomes — but as something God knew and decreed from the beginning, not as new information reaching Him.
Side by side
| The Bible | Genesis 6:6; Exodus 32:14 | The LORD regretted making man and was grieved in His heart; and He relented from the disaster He had spoken of after Moses pleaded. |
|---|---|---|
| The Bible | Numbers 23:19 | God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. |
| The Qur'an | 6:59; 50:29 | With Him are the keys of the unseen, known to none but Him; the word is not changed with Him. |
From the Qur'an
وَعِندَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا إِلَّا هُوَ
And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him.
مَا يُبَدَّلُ الْقَوْلُ لَدَيَّ وَمَا أَنَا بِظَلَّامٍ لِّلْعَبِيدِ
The word will not be changed with Me, and I am not unjust to the servants.
From the Bible
Hebrew
And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Read it in their BibleHebrew
And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
Read it in their BibleHebrew
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Read it in their BibleSources
Qur'an 6:59; 50:29; 21:23 · Genesis 6:6; Exodus 32:14; Numbers 23:19 · Qur'an 6:59; Genesis 6:6
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