Rhetorical: Jacob may not be as trained in the verbal arts as Sherem, but the Lord is with him, and he sets a trap for Sherem from which Sherem will not be able to escape. Jacob asks him if he believes in scripture, and Sherem must say that he does. Indeed it has been Sherem's argument that it is the scriptures that dictate a preeminence of the Law of Moses, and do not require a Christ. Jacob will turn this admission into a detriment rather than the strength Sherem supposed it to be.