But it is in the “Similitudes” that we find a number of passages dealing with the subject; in fact, all these “Similitudes,” or “Parables,” are declared to be the outcome of the Wisdom which the Lord of Spirits granted to Enoch (see xxxvii. 1-4, and cp. lxxxii. 2, 3). Differing from the teaching of earlier Wisdom books[321] it is here stated that Wisdom could nowhere find a dwelling-place among men, and had therefore to return to heaven (cp. the passage just quoted): Wisdom found no place where she might dwell; Then a dwelling-place was assigned her in the heavens. Wisdom went forth to make her dwelling among the children of men, But found no dwelling-place; Wisdom returned to her place, And took her seat among the angels (xlii. 1, 2; cp. xciv. 5). It is the Elect One, sitting on the throne of God, Who possesses all the secrets of Wisdom: And the Elect One shall in those days sit on my Throne, And his mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel: For the Lord of Spirits hath given them to him, and hath glorified him (li. 3; cp. xlix. 3). The blessedness of those who accept Wisdom is described in xcix. 10. In the Book of the Secrets of Enoch there is at least one passage in which Wisdom is personified; it is a very curious one repeating with strange details the thought that Wisdom, as taught in earlier books, took her part in the Creation; the words are put into the mouth of the Creator: On the sixth day I ordered my Wisdom to make man of seven substances: his flesh from the earth; his blood from the dew; his eyes from the sun; his bones from the stones; his thoughts from the swiftness of the angels, and the clouds; his veins [or “nails”] and hair from the grass of the earth; his spirit from my spirit, and from the wind (xxx. 8). But in other passages, e.g. xxxiii. 3, xliii. 2, Wisdom is conceived of as purely abstract. SUMMARY The Wisdom Literature is preserved in both canonical and uncanonical books; but the distinction is here unimportant, for those belonging to either category are clearly members of the same family; they all possess one characteristic distinguishing them from the rest of the Old Testament, viz. in them religion has become philosophy. Not philosophy in the Greek sense, nor yet in that of the moderns, but still religious philosophy of a distinct type. The fundamental Jewish monotheistic belief is taken for granted throughout. There are, however, other characteristics not altogether in accord with traditional Judaism. The writers of the Wisdom Literature are not always consistent with one another, or even with themselves, and their speculations are often only tentative. This is not surprising, for they were struggling with new ways of thinking and with new subjects of thought; and they were, moreover, coming into contact with new influences.