But if you say to me, 'We rely on the LORD our God'—is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?' — the Rab-shakeh shifts to a more theologically sophisticated attack: he claims Hezekiah's destruction of high places actually weakens his position. The challenge inverts Hezekiah's religious reform: the Rab-shakeh argues that by centralizing worship at Jerusalem's altar and destroying the popular high places, Hezekiah has removed the religious practice that sustained popular devotion. This theological attack suggests that widespread high-place worship was the basis of public religious sentiment; centralization has alienated the populace. The Rab-shakeh's attack on Hezekiah's reforms represents a sophisticated understanding of popular religious practice and its political implications.

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