Deutéronome 13:6

6 Quand ton frère, fils de ta mère, ou ton fils, ou ta fille, ou ta femme bien-aimée, ou ton ami, qui t'est comme ton âme, t'excitera en secret, en disant: Allons et servons d'autres dieux, que tu n'as pas connus, ni toi, ni tes pères,

Deutéronome 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.

Deutéronome 13:6 In-Context

4 Vous suivrez l'Éternel votre Dieu, vous le craindrez, vous garderez ses commandements, vous obéirez à sa voix, vous le servirez et vous vous attacherez à lui.
5 Mais on fera mourir ce prophète ou ce songeur; car il a parlé de se révolter contre l'Éternel votre Dieu, qui vous a retirés du pays d'Égypte et qui vous a rachetés de la maison de servitude, pour te pousser hors de la voie où l'Éternel ton Dieu t'a prescrit de marcher. Ainsi tu extermineras le méchant du milieu de toi.
6 Quand ton frère, fils de ta mère, ou ton fils, ou ta fille, ou ta femme bien-aimée, ou ton ami, qui t'est comme ton âme, t'excitera en secret, en disant: Allons et servons d'autres dieux, que tu n'as pas connus, ni toi, ni tes pères,
7 D'entre les dieux des peuples qui sont autour de vous, près de toi ou loin de toi, d'un bout de la terre jusqu'à l'autre,
8 N'aie point de complaisance pour lui, et ne l'écoute point; que ton œil aussi ne l'épargne point; ne sois point touché de compassion et ne le cache point.
The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.