Le commentaire de Thomas d'Aquin dans l'histoire médiévale de l'exégèse de Job.

The commentary on Job by Thomas Aquinas has a central position in the history of this book exegesis, which it renews fundamentally. Before Thomas, the Moralia in Job of Gregory the Great used to be the main source of influence : Job was considered as a figure of Christ and his patience was exalted in a process of spiritual interpretation. By defining his commentary as literal (Expositio litteralis), Thomas faced boldly all the difficulties of this astonishing book. Roland of Cremone (o.p., † 1259) and some other masters of the 13th century heralded this new approach, but somehow timidly. For Thomas the central thema of the book is the role of divine Providence in human acts : he presented his exposition as a disputatio, opposing two theses. To achieve this new approach, Thomas devoted himself to a precise analysis of the language of the book and inserted in his study scientific elements. It seems also that the reflections of the Jewish philosopher Maimonides in his Guide of the Perplexed, which was translated into Latin probably about 1240, may have influenced saint Thomas in his new approach, which determined a major step in the history of Job exegesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]