What is the meaning of Judges 8:35?

They did not show kindness

- Judges 8:34 sets the tone: “And the Israelites did not remember the LORD their God”. Forgetting God quickly turns into forgetting people who represent His deliverance.

- Kindness here is covenant loyalty—active, tangible goodwill. David later praised the men of Jabesh-gilead for such loyalty to Saul (2 Samuel 2:5-6), showing what Israel should have offered Gideon’s family.

- Israel’s neglect contrasts sharply with God’s own nature: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).

- Ingratitude always breeds decline (Romans 1:21). The nation that had cried for rescue now withheld even basic courtesy.

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to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon)

- “Jerubbaal” reminds us of Gideon’s stand against Baal (Judges 6:32). Ironically, 8:33 reports that Israel “prostituted themselves with the Baals” right after Gideon died.

- The “house” includes his seventy sons, later slaughtered by Abimelech (Judges 9:5). The people’s silence during that atrocity exposes their hardened hearts.

- Scripture elsewhere teaches honoring the household of one whom God used: Jonathan’s line was spared “for the sake of Saul’s son” (2 Samuel 21:7); Mephibosheth ate at David’s table because of covenant faithfulness (2 Samuel 9:7).

- Failing Gideon’s family meant rejecting the memory of God’s victory achieved through him.

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for all the good things he had done for Israel

- Gideon’s “good things” were many:

• Deliverance from Midian’s oppression (Judges 7:19-25)

• Forty years of peace (Judges 8:28)

• Refusal to set up a dynasty, pointing the nation back to God as King (Judges 8:23)

- God calls His people to remember His works and the instruments He uses (Psalm 103:2; Hebrews 13:7). When memory fades, so does faithfulness (Nehemiah 9:28).

- The verse exposes the human tendency to celebrate rescue one day and neglect gratitude the next—a cycle repeated throughout Judges (Judges 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1).

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summary

Judges 8:35 diagnoses Israel’s post-victory heart: they quickly forgot both the LORD and the deliverer He raised up. Their refusal to show covenant loyalty to Gideon’s household reveals ingratitude, spiritual drift, and a disregard for God’s chosen means of blessing. The verse warns every generation to treasure God’s past mercies, honor those He has used, and live out steadfast kindness in response to His unfailing love.