Essential terms in the western religious lexicon are often associated with or constructed out of items in the biblical lexicon. That this post-biblical development might impact our understanding of the biblical world—bringing theologically-laden concepts into our reading of the Bible—would seem to be obvious, but it is a fact the implications of which have not always been adequately noted. This paper will consider whether the concept of “repentance” is a useful category for the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible and its theology. It begins by asking if there is really a word for “repentance” in the Hebrew Bible. The biblical term š-w-b (as in the phrase "return to the LORD") is by no means an equivalent. It may at times refer to a “turn away from sin,” but this suggests only a cessation of sin, not the complex, mental process of its abandonment that the “repentance” encapsulates. The verbal root only comes to signify “repent” among the Bible’s early readers in the post-biblical period. Next, the paper considers whether fasting, prayer (including so-called “penitential prayers”), and confession are penitential rites in ancient Israel. Actually, they serve broadly-speaking to communicate states of affliction and destitution, rather than contrition. Turning to the institution of prophecy, the prophets should not be seen, as they come to be, as preachers of repentance. They are much more concerned with establishing and conveying the state of Israel’s condition and its causes than with urging the nation to secure a better outcome through moral-religious amendment. The paper will conclude by laying out the theological alternatives suggested by repentance’s absence in the Hebrew Bible and by briefly considering the case of “humility” as an additional instance of the western religious lexicon impacting biblical interpretation.