GEN552 It has been suggested that the Platonic imitatio Dei was derived from the teachings of Pythagoras, one of whose precepts was: “Follow God.” J. Burnet in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics X, 526 and others.  While this phrase is identical with the Biblical “walking after God,” it is noteworthy that the Scriptures do not use this expression prior to the Sinaitic Revelation. The accounts of the lives of the antediluvians and the patriarchs of Israel use the expression “to walk with God” and “to walk before God.” [This verse], Genesis 6:9; 17:1; 48:15.  Enoch and Noah walk with God. The patriarchs walk before Him. Neither of these phrases explicitly refers to the imitation of God or His ways. “To walk with God” implies a close companionship with Him (and the reflexive form mithalech perhaps indicate the intense efforts exerted to achieve this goal), with an earthly existence in the manner described by Plato. See commentary of S.R. Hirsch to [this verse]. Perhaps for this reason the locution “walking with God” is not applied to Israel’s patriarchs.  “To walk before God” maybe note either walking before Him to be scrutinized or to herald HIs coming. Genesis Rabbah 30:10 Those who walk before the Lord serve by their lives as an exemplar of the Divine attributes before the attributes are revealed. When God made His attributes known, the commandment to “walk after the Lord” became an exhortation to imitatio Dei. The phrase “to walk after God” is also found in later writings, e.g. 2 Kings 20:3; Ps. 116:9. “To walk with God” is not found again.  The Divine promise that God will walk in the midst of Israel so that He will be a God unto them and they a people unto Him Leviticus 26:12 may mean just this, that God will once again reveal His attributes to Israel in all their resplendent glory, so that Israel will truly be His people who embody in their collective and individual lives the exalted ideals of imitatio Dei. (By David S. Shapiro, "The Doctrine of the Image of God and Imitatio Dei") KELLNER 141-2