Editing Repentance in Judaism (section)

==Commentary==
According to the [[Talmud]], [[God in Judaism|God]] [[Genesis creation narrative|created]] repentance before He created the [[physical universe]], making it among the first things created.<ref>[[Nedarim (tractate)|Nedarim]] 39b</ref>

Jewish tradition describes many people who repented, including:
*In 609 BCE King [[Josiah]] of Israel was killed in battle by Pharaoh Necho II; Josiah's death was brought about because, despite his sincere religious reform, he had in fact been deceived as the people did not follow his reforms; thus he refused to heed the Prophet Jeremiah, thinking that no sword would pass through the Land of Israel. He was struck by 300 darts; he made no complaint except to acknowledge "The Lord is righteous, for I rebelled against His commandment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RXG43DWPjEC&q=Josiah|title=The Legends of the Jews|first1=Louis|last1=Ginzberg|first2=Boaz|last2=Cohen|date=January 8, 1913|publisher=Jewish publication society of America|via=Google Books}}</ref> 
*After [[Passover]] in CE 44, [[Herod Agrippa]] went to [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]], where he had games performed in honor of Claudius. In the midst of his speech to the public, a cry went out that he was a god, and Agrippa did not then publicly react. At this time he saw an [[owl]] perched over his head. During his imprisonment by Tiberius, a similar [[omen]] had been interpreted as portending his speedy release and future kingship, with the warning that should he behold the same sight again, he would die. He was immediately smitten with violent pains, scolded his friends for flattering him, and accepted his imminent death in a state of [[Teshuva]]. He experienced heart pains and pain in his abdomen and died after five days.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' xix. 345–350 (Chapter 8 para 2)</ref>

If a person strays from the path of goodness in some aspect, there is always a "way back" if a person wills to try taking it. (Although texts mention some specific categories for whom the way back will be exceedingly hard, such as the slanderer, the habitual gossiper, and the malicious person.)