A verb meaning to cause or experience pain β physical, emotional, or relational. Closely related to H6087 (atsab, 'to carve/fabricate') with a secondary meaning of causing grief.
The word atsab appears in one of Scripture's most theologically significant verses: Genesis 6:6, 'And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.' God's grief over human sin is not weakness or error β it is the profound, personal anguish of a loving Father watching His creation destroy itself. This divine emotional engagement shows that God is not an impassable deity unaffected by human choices. Paul echoes this in Ephesians 4:30: 'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.' Sin wounds the relationship. Yet God's grief leads not to abandonment but to redemption β Noah found grace, and ultimately the Son of God bore all this grief on the cross.