2/113 — Mutual annulment
"The Jews said, 'The Christians stand on nothing'; and the Christians said, 'The Jews stand on nothing' — and that while they recite the Book. Those who do not know said the like of their word."
The verse builds two sentences symmetrically: the same expression, in two directions. And both sides have a book in hand.
The really striking sentence is at the end: كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ مِثْلَ قَوْلِهِمْ — "Those who do not know said the like of their word."
The word of those who know and the word of those who do not know have become the same. Possessing knowledge did not, in the end, change the sentence spoken. This is one of the hardest criticisms in the section: if reading a book does not keep a person from annulling the other side wholesale, what is the function of that reading?
A measure can be built from here: the way to tell whether a view rests on knowledge or on belonging is to see whether someone without knowledge who shares the same belonging defends it too. If the answer is yes, the carrier is not knowledge.