Judges 2:18 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

It repented the Lord — i.e., Jehovah was grieved. (Comp. Jonah 3:10, “God repented of the evil that He had said He would do unto them; and He did it not” — Genesis 6:6; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:35; Amos 7:3; Joel 2:13, &c.) The simple anthropomorphism of early ages never hesitates to describe the ways and thoughts of Jehovah by the analogy of human lives; nor is it easy to see how the sacred writers could have otherwise expressed their meaning. Yet they were, even in using this language, perfectly aware that it was only an imperfect and approximate method of explaining God’s dealings with man; and when they are using the language of calm and unmetaphorical instruction they say, “God is not a man...that he should repent” (Numbers 23:19); “He is in one mind, and who can turn Him?” (Job 23:13); “I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).