i was listening to colbie caillat & jason reeves song "droplets" & there is a part in the song where the word regret is mentioned. this inspired me to think a bit deeper about the concept of regret, what it truly means. for that, i went & looked it up in a lexicon on crosswalk.com (it's one of the greatest resources out there)! apparently the word only appears in the old testament hebrew manuscripts of the bible (someone who knows more on that, please by all means correct me). here's what i found:
Strong's Number: 05162
Original Word Word Origin
~xn a primitive root
Transliterated Word: Nacham
Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech
naw-kham' Verb
Definition
1. to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted
1. (Niphal)
1. to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
2. to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
3. to comfort oneself, be comforted
4. to comfort oneself, ease oneself
2. (Piel) to comfort, console
3. (Pual) to be comforted, be consoled
4. (Hithpael)
1. to be sorry, have compassion
2. to rue, repent of
3. to comfort oneself, be comforted
4. to ease oneself
King James Word Usage - Total: 108
comfort 57, repent 41, comforter 9, ease 1
KJV Verse Count
Genesis 8
Exodus 3
Numbers 1
Deuteronomy 1
Judges 3
Ruth 1
1 Samuel 3
2 Samuel 5
1 Chronicles 4
Job 7
Psalms 12
Ecclesiastes 1
Isaiah 13
Jeremiah 14
Lamentations 6
Ezekiel 7
Joel 2
Amos 2
Jonah 3
Nahum 1
Zechariah 3
Total 100
The Hebrew lexicon is Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Lexicon; this is keyed to the "Theological Word Book of the Old Testament." These files are considered public domain.
Bibliography Information
Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius. "Hebrew Lexicon entry for Nacham". "The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon".
i had always found it utterly annoying when i heard or saw people quote something like, "live your life with no regrets." whenever i saw stuff like that, it would get me thinking, but it never made sense to me why someone would tell someone else that. why? because people process things in different ways, react to things in different ways & really, being able to regret something implies that someone was invested into that thing (whether positive or negative), they still invested ... a lot of times, as people, even some Christians deny that of other people - the whole process of engaging, investing, learning, falling, getting back up ... & i have always wondered why - why would someone deprive another of the genuine human experience (which very well includes mistakes, "failures," & shortcomings). why do so many seem to discourage that? without those little stops along the way, how would someone come to genuinely know & experience God (His mercy, grace, strength, wrath, compassion, anger etc.)?
i for one happen to think that having regret & expressing it (or not expressing it) is okay, because what someone does with it (or them for more than one regret) is of their own conviction, or lack thereof. during Jesus' time here on earth, did He not love & feel deeply, invest & engage immeasurably, discipline & rebuke mightily? as His followers (or for those who are not, but yet still respect Him), should we all not consider adopting His perspective, His way, His philosophy in ALL areas of our lives, if we claim to so honor, respect, revere, & love Him? all this to say, the key here is to not let a regret or certain regrets define your life, because then they have the potential to become idols ... & for the believer/follower in Christ, those things may have either consciously or unconsciously become first in their life. regrets may be necessary in the lives' of certain individuals, just like for an alcoholic who attends AA, he/she make keep a bottle of wine in their drawer, just to remind them of why they should not go back to it. yet, after a certain point, that alcoholic could get rid of it because they don't need that symbolic reminder anymore or they may keep it around or pass it onto someone else who may need that type of thing to be a reminder. perhaps that is what regrets are in the lives of certain individuals, symbolic reminders of why they should not go back to certain places, things, people, or situations.
just a thing or two for you guys to ponder upon.
now to open up a can of worms (not that i looked to do that) but, did Jesus have regrets?
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