Rhetoric: Jacob may not be as well trained in the verbal arts as Sherem, but Yahweh 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, Sherem has based his argument about the preeminence of the law of Moses on the scriptures. Jacob turns this admission into a detriment rather than the strength Sherem supposed it to be.