SOPHIA is a Greek word that means "wisdom." In the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament), the name Sophia is given as a translation of Ḥokhmah (also meaning "wisdom"), the name of a figure with feminine features. In the Greek version of the apocryphal book the Wisdom of Solomon (written in Alexandria at the beginning of the common era), Sophia is said to be the emanation of God's glory, the Holy Spirit, the immaculate mirror of his energy, nay, even the spouse of the Lord (Septuagint 8:3). In the Greek rendering of Ben Sira, or Sirach, she is depicted as a woman: To the wise man she is both a tender mother, who spoils him as if he were her favorite child, and his young mistress, who surprises him with unexpected wildness (15:2). In Proverbs (c. 300), Wisdom "standeth at the top of high places and cries at the...