So the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had saved them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
Parallel translations
- WEB The children of Israel didn’t remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;
- KJV And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
- BSB The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
- NKJV Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
- NLT They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their enemies surrounding them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel forgets Yahweh their God, who had repeatedly delivered them.
Overview
Forgetting God's saving acts lies at the root of their idolatry and ingratitude. Remembrance of the Lord's deeds is meant to anchor covenant faithfulness (Deut. 8). Their amnesia exposes the human heart's bent to abandon its Redeemer once danger passes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 78:42They didn’t remember his hand, nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
- Ps 106:21They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
- Ps 78:11They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
- Eccl 12:1Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
- Ps 106:18A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked.
- Deut 4:9Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children;
- Judg 3:7The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and forgot Yahweh their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
- Jer 2:32“Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 8:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.