Deuteronomy 13:6

6 “Suppose someone secretly entices you—even your brother, your son or daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend—and says, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known.

Deuteronomy 13:6 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 13:6

If thy brother, the son of thy mother
A brother by mother's side, which is generally supposed to be the nearest relation, at least most out of question, so more liable to be regarded as being beloved:

or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom;
most dearly beloved by him, as indeed each of these relations are by a man, there being none nearer or dearer to him:

or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul;
as dear to him as himself, and so strictly united in friendship, as if one soul dwelt in two bodies; such close friends were Jonathan and David, ( 1 Samuel 18:1 ) . Some Jewish writers think the father is not mentioned, because of the reverence of him, with which all later dealings with him obliged to would seem inconsistent; but the reverence of God is to be preferred to the reverence of parents; and besides, if such near relations that are here mentioned, than which there are none nearer, are not to be spared if guilty of the sin after warned against, then not a father, who is in the same transgression:

entice thee secretly;
when alone with him, which might be judged the most proper time to work upon him, there being none to oppose the enticer, or to assist the enticed; so Satan took the opportunity of Eve being alone when he attacked her with his temptation, and the same method is taken by his children:

saying, let me go and serve other gods which thou hast not known, thou
nor thy fathers;
not even their immediate ancestors, and so the calf was not of these gods; nor their more remote ancestors, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were no idolaters; nor even Terah, though he was one, yet the gods of the Canaanites and of the neighbouring nations, which seem to be here meant, at least principally, were such that he knew not. This circumstance may seem to carry in it an argument rather why they should not than why they should serve such gods; wherefore the words of the enticer seem to be only these,

let us go and serve other gods,
and what follows are the words of the Lord, descriptive of those gods, and so a dissuasive from serving them.

Deuteronomy 13:6 In-Context

4 Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.

5 The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the LORD your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.

6 “Suppose someone secretly entices you—even your brother, your son or daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend—and says, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known.

7 They might suggest that you worship the gods of peoples who live nearby or who come from the ends of the earth.

8 But do not give in or listen. Have no pity, and do not spare or protect them.