In Genesis 6:6, "the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him (atsab) to his heart" — a profound anthropomorphism showing God's relational anguish. The same word describes Eve's pain in childbirth and Adam's toilsome labor (Genesis 3:16-17), establishing a theology of suffering as a consequence of sin. Atsab shapes the idol (Isaiah 44:9) and the one who is grieved — connecting creative work with pain.
Atsab carries a dual meaning: to grieve or pain someone emotionally, and to fashion or shape (as a potter shaping clay). The emotional range stretches from deep sorrow to the sorrowful labor of toil. Used in Genesis 3:16-17 of the pain that entered creation after the fall.