REPENTANCE (נָחַם, H5714; μετανοέω, G3566). This concept is encountered repeatedly in both OT and NT. It means to turn about, to have a change of mind, to express regret. It is used both of God and man. The verb means the act of turning about; the noun means the result of such action.

1. Repentance on the part of God. Most occurrences of this concept in the OT have to do with God’s repentance. This is seen, for example, where God repented that He had made man (Gen 6:6) and again repented of the judgments by which He had condemned Israel (Exod 32:14). Several times the Lord repented of the chastisements which He had planned, that is, judgments that He had planned to execute on His people (Jer 18:8, 10; 26:3, 19; 42:10; cf. Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:10). These are a few of many instances when the Lord is represented as having changed His mind. Elsewhere, however, the Lord is said to be “weary with repenting” (Jer 15:6). The consistency of the Lord in carrying out His purposes is reflected in Psalm 110:4: “The Lord has sworn and will not change” (cf. Jer 4:28). He is said to be more consistent than man for He is less likely to be changeable or vacillating (1 Sam 15:29). Indeed there is a paradox in some of these passages. In one instance God is presented as regretting or repenting that He had set up Saul as king (1 Sam 15:11, 35). In the same context, however, he is presented as unchanging and as not given to repentance (1 Sam 15:29—“he is not a man, that he should repent”; cf. Ezek 24:14). In many instances God’s change of mind or repentance is attributed to man’s intercession (Exod 32:12, 14; Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9, 10). In these texts the meaning obviously is that repentance means the change of plan or reconsideration of an earlier plan. It can be interpreted as a change of mind: it is a turning about and going in the opposite direction, a change of attitude.

2. Repentance on the part of man other than theological. Repentance is the term used to describe Israel’s change of attitude toward Benjamin (Judg 21:6). With this may be compared Matthew 21:29 when the disobedient son changed his mind and obeyed. It has the connotation of regret, as when Paul did not repent concerning his sanctions toward the Corinthians (2 Cor 7:8). In many contexts, repentance describes a man’s change of attitude toward his fellowmen.

3. Repentance toward God. The most important phase of this doctrine in the Bible is not in its non-theological meaning of the change of mind; it is rather a basic change in man’s attitude toward God. In much of the OT there is no provision made for man to turn from his sin and to seek pardon. There is little of this in the Pentateuch. The numerous plagues reported in Exodus and Numbers were the result of man’s sin against God, for which there was no alternative but to take the punishment meted out. The one exception to this is the last of the fourteen murmurings in the wilderness as reported in Numbers 21. In this case a bronze serpent was erected by which, if people looked, they could be cured of the bite of the fiery serpents. Perhaps for the first time in Biblical history the sinner’s punishment could be averted, simply by looking with no suffering involved. No opportunity, however, appears to have been provided for the sinful actions of the sons of Eli or of Samuel; they were simply punished for their sin. When Achan sinned he was given no opportunity to repent.

One of the earliest examples of repentance is seen in King David’s reaction to Nathan’s parable. Because David said, “I have sinned,” forgiveness was granted—“you shall not die” (2 Sam 12:13). The noblest language of the repentant sinner is to be found in Psalm 51. There was something akin to repentance on the part of Ahab, when, after hearing the sentence against him, he began to “walk softly” with the result that the Lord lessened his punishment (1 Kings 21:27-29). When Amos preached to the surrounding nations, there was again no measure of hope for the sinner, only the sentence of doom. However, it is in the later chs. of Amos that one finds the earliest emphasis on repentance as a means by which the sinner could avert the wrath of God. The concept often occurs in a context where the term does not.

The 8th-cent. prophets often expressed the idea by means of terms tr. “seek” or “return.” One of the keynotes of the prophecy of Amos is expressed in essentially two words—“seek” and “live” (Amos 5:4, 6, 14). The doctrine comes to its full flower in Hosea, whose central message was an anguished cry to Israel to repent before catastrophe fell. The people of Nineveh were accredited with having enough theology and good sense to expect that the Lord would change His mind if they changed their practices, so when they repented the Lord repented (Jonah 3:9, 10).

The classic expression for this doctrine and the place where it is most clearly articulated is in the Book of Ezekiel where it is contrasted with the older group morality. The prophet makes it clear that the innocent suffering with the guilty (as with Achan’s family) will no longer be in effect, but each man will be judged on the basis of his own conduct. This means that the sinner who changes his ways, ceases to sin, and does what is right, shall escape the penalty of his sin and live (Ezek 18; 33:10-20). Even Manasseh, one of the most wicked kings of Judah, is pictured as being shown mercy because he repented (2 Chron 33:12, 13). This so impressed a later writer that he composed the apocryphal Prayer of Manasseh, found in intertestamental lit. It was a common rabbinic teaching that if a nation repented sincerely enough, the Messiah would then come.

It is into this background that John the Baptist came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The same emphasis was followed by Jesus and still later by Jesus’ disciples (Matt 3:2; 4:17; Mark 6:12). Indeed, repentance became the main theme of John the Baptist and in his preaching the emphasis changed from national repentance, which Ezra and Daniel called upon the people to render, to individual repentance. He insisted that repentance be accompanied by the fruits of repentance in a changed life. The synoptic gospels indicate that unless one repents and becomes like a child, he has no hope of heaven (Matt 18:1-10). Conversely, Jesus’ severest strictures were directed to the impenitent (Matt 9:13; Luke 18:14). The term repentance is absent from the fourth gospel. The synoptic gospels and the Acts stress repentance, often in an eschatological setting. The epistles are addressed to believers, and repentance receives less emphasis. The doctrine is deliberately minimized in the letter to the Hebrews in order to underscore the danger of apostasy. The last book in the Bible again stresses the importance of repentance in the letters to the seven churches. No hope is held out for the proud person who thinks it is beneath his dignity to express regret for his sins and mistakes but assurance is given to the humble in heart that forgiveness and cleansing are given through the blood of Jesus Christ to the sincerely penitent (1 John 1:7-10).