Parashas Balak: Divine Regret

Unfortunately, I found myself uninspired to look into the parashah in time to write a dvar Torah for this week. But since I felt I needed to write something, I decided to just share an Ibn Ezra on a pasuk in Parashas Bereishis which sheds light on a pasuk in Parashas Balak. It might be a Tier #2 dvar Torah which is only kinda on the parashah, but who knows? Maybe someone will gain something from it. 

Parashas Balak: Divine Regret

Balak, the king of Moav, hired Bilam the prophet to curse the Jews. Time and time again, the king was let down when the prophet blessed the Israelite nation instead of cursing them, explaining that he can't go against God's will. Balak's persisted in his demands, hoping that Hashem would change His mind and allow Bilam to curse the foreign nation. In response to this hope Bilam says:

"God is not a man that He should be deceitful, nor is He a human being that He should regret" (Bamidbar 23:19). 

Seems straightforward enough: God doesn't regret, and will not change His mind about allowing the Jews to be cursed. However, at the end of Parashas Bereishis, prior to the decree of the Flood, the Torah says the opposite: 

Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every product of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all of the time. And Hashem regretted having made man upon the earth, and His heart was saddened. And Hashem said, "I will blot out Man whom I created from the face of the ground - from man to animal, to creeping things, and to birds of the sky; for I have regretted having made them (Bereishis 6:5-7).

So which is it: Does Hashem regret or not? Furthermore, what does it mean when it says that "His heart was saddened"?

To a student of the yesodei ha'Torah (fundamentals of Torah), the answer is obvious: no, Hashem does not regret, nor be sad. First of all, Hashem does not - and cannot - change. Secondly, Hashem has no emotions, since Hashem is not physical. Thirdly, Hashem cannot make any mistakes which would warrant regret. 

This changes our question: Since Hashem doesn't regret, what does the pasuk mean when it describes Him has regretting having created man?

The Ibn Ezra [1] answers:

It is obvious that He is not a man such that He regrets. Rather, the Torah speaks in human language, and one who destroys what he has made appears as though he regretted [making it]. The meaning of "His heart was saddened" is the opposite of "may Hashem rejoice in His creations" (Tehilim 104:31), for it is good in His eyes that His creations receive His kindnesses.

On the pasuk from Tehilim cited by the Ibn Ezra, the Radak [2] echoes his comments:

Happiness and sadness with reference to Hashem are [to be understood] allegorically, for He has neither happiness nor sadness, and He doesn't change from one mode to another. Rather, just as a person is happy when his actions succeed and is sad when the opposite happens, the same is allegorically said of God (blessed is He), so that the listeners may understand. 

Both Rishonim agree that "regret," "happiness," "sadness" are to be understood as anthropomorphic characterizations of Hashem's actions - not as literal statements about Hashem, Himself. The same goes for all other statements which seem to imply that Hashem has emotions.

Although this approach is expressed unanimously and ubiquitously throughout the writings of the Rishonim, it is too often neglected in Jewish day school education. I have lost count of the number of students I've taught who are shocked to be informed that Hashem has no emotions. The only way I know to remedy this deficiency in their education is to seize every opportunity to explain anthropomorphic passages such as these, and to show them that this entire approach is firmly rooted in the teachings of the baalei Mesorah. 

[1] Rabbeinu Avraham ibn Ezra, Commentary on Sefer Bamidbar 23:19
[2] Rabbeinu David Kimchi, Commentary on Sefer Tehilim 104:31