 Several elements point us toward a more complete understanding. First, Philo evidently prefers indirect allusions to direct citations. Philosophical concepts are necessary to the elaboration of exegesis, but too many precise mentions of philosophers would have presented Philo himself as subordinate not to the Word of God but to the doctrines of philosophers. He is still more silent about the great rabbis he would have certainly met in Alexandria and perhaps in Jerusalem. In his philosophical references, it is clear that he prefers to evoke the presocratic thinkers and the classical period of philosophy than the Hellenistic one. This is paradoxical since he was deeply marked by Hellenistic philosophy, which was the natural environment of his education. It must be added that his prose is also generally classical, reluctant to admit neologisms and technical vocabulary. He certainly wanted to appear in all areas a man of tradition.