Commentary for Genesis 6:7

ויאמר ה' אמחה את האדם AND GOD SAID I WILL BLOT OUT THE MAN — He is dust and I shall bring water upon him and blot him out: that is why this root מחה is used (it expresses the idea of sponging out by means of wet or dampness) (Genesis Rabbah 28:2).

ויאמר השם אמחה את האדם. G'd said: I will wipe out man. G'd had to repeat here once more that He "regretted" having made man so that we would understand that G'd's regret expressed in the previous verse was not because of man's deeds, but concerned man's creation per se. Had G'd wanted to wipe out mankind only because of their deeds, anyone who had not committed a serious sin would not have been affected by the decree to wipe out man. This would comprise all the people under twenty years of age. If the decree was due to G'd's regret at having made man at all, everybody would be included in the decree. In view of the fact that the Torah tells us through the repeated use of the word נחמתי that every human being was included in the decree, the Torah had to continue immediately and tell us that there was one single exception, namely Noach. The Torah tells us that Noach "found favour in the eyes of G'd," i.e. not on account of his deeds. Once G'd had decided that He "regretted" having made man Noach's good deeds would have had no impact on his fate. He needed an act of grace by G'd to save him. The fact that G'd granted Noach grace does not mean that he did not deserve to survive based on his good deeds. There are certain categories of מצות, good deeds, which secure a person grace in the eyes of G'd. G'd has deliberately refrained from telling us which מצות fall into that category because otherwise everybody would merely concentrate on performing those commandments.

'ויאמר ה, G’d either said this to Himself, or to Noach.