5:5a

I rose up to open for my beloved: Here the woman left her bed to open (the door) for her beloved to come in. She had become eager to see him, so she was willing to put on her robe again, as she mentioned in 5:3. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

I got up to open the door for my love.
-or-
I ⌊quickly⌋ left my bed and went to open up to my beloved.

5:5b–c

My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh: In 5:5b and 5:5c the meaning is repeated to emphasize it. Both clauses indicate that liquid myrrh dripped from the woman’s hands (and fingers). The text may imply that when the woman got up, she quickly poured myrrh on her hands, and some of the myrrh dripped from them. This is a hyperbole. It probably indicates that she was now eager to please the man.

Some other ways to translate the parallel clauses are:

• Translate the meaning twice in slightly different ways. For example:

5b myrrh perfume covered my fingers 5c and dripped from my hands

• Combine 5:5b and 5:5c and translate the meaning only once. For example:

my hands were dripping with myrrh perfume

Translate the meaning in a natural way in your language.

hands…fingers: The words hands and fingers have the same meaning here. The author repeated the meaning to add poetic interest and emphasis. He did not imply any difference in meaning.

myrrh: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as myrrh occurs twice in this verse. Both times it refers to the liquid form of the myrrh perfume. This word also occurred in 1:13, 3:6, 4:6, and 4:14. (In 1:13a–b and 4:6 the myrrh was probably in solid form.)

Here the word myrrh in 5:5b and the phrase “flowing myrrh” in 5:5c refer to the same substance. In this context myrrh can also be translated generally as “perfume.” In the dream that the woman described, myrrh probably symbolizes her loving desire for the man.

For more information about myrrh, see the note on 3:6c.

5:5c

my fingers with flowing myrrh: There is an ellipsis in 5:5c, and the word “dripped” is implied. In many languages translators need to supply this implied verb. For example:

my fingers ⌊dripped⌋ with flowing myrrh.

The myrrh dripped or flowed from her hands and fingers onto the handles of the bolt (5:5d). Some other ways to translate the phrase in 5:5c are:

my fingers were wet with myrrh
-or-
My fingers dripped with lovely myrrh (New Living Translation (2004))

flowing myrrh: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as flowing myrrh and the parallel “dripped” myrrh in 5:5b probably refer to the same type of myrrh. For more information about myrrh, see the note on myrrh in 3:6c.

5:5d

on the handles of the bolt: The phrase, handles of the bolt, refers to the object that was used to bolt (lock) the door. This bolt was often a metal or wooden bar. It was fastened to the door with a lock. Some other ways to translate 5:5c are:

• Use a specific phrase that is natural in your language. For example:

the handle of the door (Good News Translation)
-or-
the latch handles

• Use a more general phrase that does not refer specifically to the lock. For example:

to open the door (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
as I pulled back the bolt (New Living Translation (2004))

Use a natural phrase in your language to refer to a lock or whatever is natural in your culture to lock or bar a door.

General Comment on 5:5

The Notes suggest that the dripping myrrh on the woman’s hands is hyperbole. It is probably not literal but a symbol for feelings of love. This symbolic myrrh emphasizes that the woman had strong feelings of love for the man.

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