the pre-existence of the soul, this has been so well summed up by Zeller that we cannot do better than give it in his words: “The soul of man is in its nature homogeneous with the soul of the universe, from which it springs. Being of a simple and incorporeal nature it is by its power of self-movement the origin of motion in the body; inseparably connected with the idea of life, it has neither end nor beginning. As the souls have descended from a higher world into the earthly body, they return after death, if their lives have been pure and devoted to higher objects, to this higher world, while those who need correction in part undergo punishments in another world, and in part migrate through the bodies of men and animals. In its earlier existence our soul has seen the ideas of which it is reminded by the sight of their sensuous copies.”[119] The other two passages, xv. 8 and xv. 11, reflect the ancient Hebrew belief as contained in Genesis ii. 7: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (_nĕshāmāh_) of life; and man became a living soul (_nĕphĕsh_)”; that is to say, the _nĕshāmāh_ (which is equivalent to what we understand by “soul”; there is no real distinction between “soul” and “spirit” in Hebrew belief[120]) is in existence with God before man is created. This belief in pre-existence, though quite different from the Greek doctrine, became elaborated in course of time, and it was taught that in the seventh heaven God kept the souls of those whom He intends to send on earth[121]; the Midrash in which this occurs (_Sifre_ 143_b_) belongs in its original form to the earlier part of the second century A.D., and since it undoubtedly preserves much ancient material it reflects thought long prior to the time when Wisdom was written. In the passages quoted we have, then, references to the belief in the pre-existence of souls as taught by the Jews on one hand and by the Greeks on the other. (_b_) _The doctrine of immortality._ We have seen that with regard to the doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul the author of Wisdom expresses both Jewish and Greek belief. The same is the case with the doctrine of immortality; Jewish belief on this subject has already been dealt with in Part I, chap. ix. (_f_); the influence of Greek thought is to be discerned in such passages as the following: Court not death in the error of your life; Neither draw upon yourselves destruction by the works of your hands; Because God made not death, Neither delighteth He when the wicked perish (i. 12, 13). ... For righteousness is immortal (i. 15). The reference here is to spiritual death, the soul’s loss of true life hereafter. Again: But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, And no torment shall touch them (iii. 1).