Poetry and Textual Criticism in 4Q184

Various text critical issues problematize our interpretation of the portion of 4Q184 which describes the woman's body. In the interpretation and analysis of ancient literary products, textual criticism is often employed as the first stage of literary criticism. But in this paper, I argue that literary criticism and textual criticism should go hand-in-hand. If we understand the poetics of a particular literary product, the various conventions or rules which govern its shape, these conventions can be utilized to make text critical assessments. In the case of the body description poem from 4Q184, the text can be read in light of broader poetic conventions for describing the body in ancient Jewish literature. Understanding these conventions can therefore help us to assess the various reconstructions that scholars have levelled at this portion of text.