Perhaps the most tragic and painful of all situations which Moses could envision was a temptation to idolatry by a loved one. He showed he understood the depth of the tragedy as he deliberately described the various relationships involved with endearing terminology: your very own brother ... the wife you love (literally, "the wife of your bosom"), or your closest friend. Often friends try to influence each other. Unlike the preceded case in which false prophets openly admitted to seduce the people into idolatry (vv. 1-2), this temptation was offered secretly and individually. The absurdity of the temptation is heightened by Moses' explanation of the other gods. They are gods that neither you nor your fathers (ancestors) have known. Moses did not mean that the people had not known about these gods intellectually, but they had not known them experientially. These "other gods" had done nothing for Israel and never would because they did not exist.

Deuteronomy 13:6-7