“The Lord said: I will obliterate man whom I have created from the face of the earth; from man to animal, to crawling creatures, to bird of the heavens, as I regret that I made them” (Genesis 6:7). “The Lord said: I will obliterate man.” “Therefore, He knows [yakir] their activities, and He turns it into night, and they are crushed” (Job 34:25) – Rabbi Ḥanina asked of Rabbi Yoḥanan, saying to him: What is it that is written: “Therefore, He knows their activities…”?
He said to him: The Holy One blessed be He does not exact retribution from the wicked until He first reads out their indictment1Interpreting yakir as “He makes known,” rather than “He knows.” on High. Only then the Holy One blessed be He exacts retribution from them, as the Holy One blessed be He transforms [their] day into night, preparing them for punishment,2Determining the severity of the sin. and then He exacts retribution from them.
So, initially, “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great” (Genesis 6:5),3This was His “reading out their indictment.” then, “the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth” (Genesis 6:6), and then, “The Lord said: I will obliterate man whom I have created.”