Jonah 3:10 can God "repent of evil"?

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My understanding is God has a permissive will whereby he refrains from preventing the consequences of sin, and therefore evil occurs, but this passage seems to indicate that God in this instance, intended evil towards Nineveh. Wouldn’t the destruction of Nineveh, had it occurred have been God’s justice?
 
No, it’s just the way of communicating right and wrong in the Old Testament. It also says God was “angry” at times, but we know God’s nature does not subject Him to human emotions.
 
The meaning of, or source of the “anger” or “wrath” of God is revealed in these parallel accounts from 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, which describe the same event:

2 Samuel 24:1
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
And the anger of the Lord was again kindled against Israel, and stirred up David among them, saying: Go, number Israel and Juda.

1 Chronicles 21:1
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
And Satan rose up against Israel: and moved David to number Israel.
 
In this story God forgave this the people in this city because they changed their lives.
Reminds us of the sacrament of Mercy; firm amendment brings forgiveness.
We are the story of Nenaveh.

just a thought.
 
Here is the footnote from the Aquinas Study Bible

3:9 God may yet repent: Divine repentance takes in all cases a different form from that of man, in that it is never regarded as the result of improvidence or of fickleness, or of any condemnation of a good or an evil work. For it will have no other meaning than a simple change of a prior purpose; and this is admissible without any blame even in a man, much more in God, whose every purpose is faultless. Now in Greek the word for repentance METANOIA is formed, not from the confession of sin, but from a change of mind, which in God we have shown to be regulated by the occurrence of varying circumstances. (Tertullian) God is said ‘to change His mind,’ metaphorically, inasmuch as He bears Himself after the manner of one who repents, by ‘changing His sentence, although He does not change His plan. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
 
Thanks everyone for your comments. In summary:

Human words are inadequate to describe the mind of God.

Something bad (evil) was getting ready to happen if they did not repent.

They did repent.

God changed his mind.

Crystal clear now, Thanks

👍
 
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