and an appointed agent will likewise say, “I and the one who empowered me are one,” because, in whatever he conveys, he stands in his principal’s place, carries out the task for which he was sent, speaks with his authority, and claims his rights on his behalf.

The same applies to the Messiah’s words,

“Whoever has seen me has seen my Father,”

by which he only meant that whoever witnesses the works I manifest has, in reality, witnessed the works of my Father.

If you object, “But the Messiah said in the Gospel, ‘I existed before Abraham.’ How can he be before Abraham when he is one of Abraham’s descendants? Rather, when he said ‘before Abraham,’ we understood that he meant precedence over Abraham in respect of divinity.”

We add: Solomon son of David says in his Wisdom literature,

“I existed before the world, and I was with God when He founded the earth.”

What difference is there, then, between him and someone who would claim that Solomon is the son of God and that he meant, “I existed before the world by virtue of divinity”? David likewise says in the Psalms,

“I remembered You, O Lord, from the beginning, and I was guided by all Your works.”