Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy 32:17/אור החיים על דברים ל״ב:י״ז

1 לא אלוה, "non-deity." The Israelites do not offer sacrifices to these demons because they consider them as deities, but because they hope that by this means the demons would do their bidding and take care of their needs. Concerning other sacrifices, offered to deities because the Israelites offering these sacrifices do believe that they have divine powers, Moses says: אלהים לא ידעום, "gods they never knew before." Moses scores the Israelites for offering sacrifices to deities who never even demonstrated their power to the people who used to worship them previously. חדשים מקרוב באו, new ones, recently arrived." Compare what I have explained on Deut. 13,7 when we discussed the seducer.