The Angel of the LORD in the OT was, in fact, the pre-incarnate Logos. Moreover, all theophanies in the OT were “logophanies.”

Yes, Jacob wrestled with The Angel who is also the LORD—a truth known to OT saints too:

You are such a pompous fool. You use disinformation and misinformation in the same post as if they are the same thing. Grok: The main difference is intent. Disinformation is false or misleading information that is deliberately created and spread to deceive, mislead, or manipulate.

This is the Finkelstein minimalist view which you slavishly adhere to. Amihai Mazar and many others, no less competent than Finkelstein, have a different view. You pretend these are settled issues when they clearly are not.

I prefer the old-school solution of correcting these things in writing rather than delete or stealth-edit old posts, just as newspapers publish corrections but don’t necessarily remove the original article.

The Bible says King Solomon built fortifications in 4 cities: Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. Such fortifications were accompanied by a city gate. Such gates were used for defensive purposes but also for ritualistic ceremonies and juridical practices. City elders sat in judgement at the gates and also heard the pleas of the poor and needy there. In recent decades, archaeologists discovered fortifications and six-chambered city gates at Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. The eminent Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin recognized the fortifications and gates were all constructed in the same way and date to the same period—the period of Solomon. Yadin argued the archaeological evidence supported the biblical record. But what about the Jerusalem gate? In 1986 archaeologists Eilat Mazar and her grandfather Benjamin Mazar uncovered a fourth parallel gate structure in Jerusalem. See below a photograph of the late Eilat Mazar, who spent her distinguished career at Hebrew Univeristy, in front of that gate. The Jerusalem gate matched the construction formula of the others, in some cases to the nearest inch, suggesting a centralized authority in Solomon’s capital with a blueprint for the construction of such fortified structures as far away as northern Israel.

I don’t need to take notes. As Dan will acknowledge, a day or two ago I admitted my mistake in inadvertently leaving out a word from an Eric Cline quotation.

In Jerusalem, a 2,000-year-old burial box was discovered bearing the name Joseph Caiaphas. Inside were the remains of a 60-year-old man. The name, location, and time period all match. Could these be the bones of the high priest who helped send Jesus to the cross?