ANALECTA BIBLICA - 161

IWANSKI Dariusz

The Dynamics of Job’s Intercession

2006, pp. XVIII+432.

The author of the book of Job twice pictures the main protagonist as intercessor. In the Prologue Job offers atonement holocausts for his sons in case they have sinned. His intercession in the Epilogue is performed in a very dramatic context. Job prays for his friends when he himself is in a pitiful situation. Especially the latter case of intercession is pregnant with meaning. We argue that it can be viewed in two dimensions: horizontal and vertical. By analyzing these dimensions the study contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of Job’s intercession.

Intercession becomes a vehicle to emphasize Job’s role in the drama and finally vindicate his perfection, which was put to doubt by the friends and by Satan in the course of the drama. On the horizontal level the intercession becomes a way for reconciliation between Job and his friends. Seen against the vertical level it first stands as an expression of Job’s perfection (disinterested piety in particular); secondly it allows the reestablishment of cordial relations between Job and Yahweh (reconciliation).

Dariusz Iwanski was born in Poland in 1971. 1996 ha was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Torun (Northern Poland). A year later he was sent to the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome where he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture. In 2004 he received his doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has been teaching as a guest professor at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park (CA).