I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

I rose up to open to my beloved; And my hands droppeth with myrrh, And my fingers with liquid myrrh, Upon the handles of the bolt.

I arose up to open to my beloved: my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the choicest myrrh.

I rose up to open to my beloved; And my hands dropped with myrrh, And my fingers with liquid myrrh, Upon the handles of the lock.

I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the handles of the bolt.

I rose to open to my beloved, And my hands dropped myrrh, Yea, my fingers flowing myrrh, On the handles of the lock.

I got up to let my loved one in; and my hands were dropping with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the lock of the door.

I rose up to open to my beloved; And my hands dropped with myrrh, And my fingers with flowing myrrh, Upon the handles of the bar.

Sweet smelling myrrh - Or (as in the margin) "running myrrh," that which first and spontaneously exudes, i. e., the freshest, finest myrrh. Even in withdrawing he has left this token of his unchanged love.

My hands dropped with myrrh - It was a custom among the Romans, as Brissonius, Isidore, and others relate, to conduct the bride to the house of the bridegroom with lighted torches; and those who brought her anointed the door-posts with fragant oils, whence the name uxor, or as it was formerly written unxor, for a wife or married woman, because of the anointing which took place on the occasion; for sometimes the bride herself anointed the door-posts, and sometimes those who brought her; probably both at the same time. The same custom might have existed among the Jews. See Vossius' Etymologicon.

I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands flowed [with] myrrh, and my (e) fingers [with] sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
(e) The spouse who should be anointed by Christ will not find him if she thinks to anoint him with her good works.

I rose up to open to my beloved,.... As soon as touched by the hand of mighty grace, she not only resolved to rise, but actually rose, and that directly, not being easy to lie any longer on her bed of carnal security; being now made heartily and thoroughly willing to let in her beloved, who she supposed was still at the door; but in that she was mistaken; however she met with a rich experience of his grace and goodness;
and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock; when she put her hand upon it to draw it back, and let her beloved in; the myrrh, which he had gathered, Song 5:1, and left there when he put in his hand at the hole of the door: the allusion seems to be to lovers shut out, who used to cover the threshold of the door with flowers, and anoint the door posts with sweet smelling ointment (f): as by the "door" is meant the heart of the church, so by the "lock", which fastened and kept it shut, unbelief may be designed; and by the "handles" of it lukewarmness and sluggishness, which strengthen unbelief, and keep the heart closer shut against Christ; and by her "hands" and "fingers", faith in exercise, attended with the fruits of it, attempting to draw back the lock of unbelief; which while the church was trying to do, she met with some fresh experience of the grace of Christ: her "hands and fingers dropped with sweet smelling myrrh, passing" or "current" (g); such as weeps and drops from the tree of itself, and, being liquid, runs upon and overflows the hands and fingers; and being excellent and valuable, is passing or current as money; and the odour of it diffusive, it passes afar off: now this is either to be understood of myrrh brought by the church, a pot of ointment of it to anoint her beloved with, who had been long waiting at her door in the night season, to refresh him with it; and this pot being broke unawares, or designedly, or being in a panic her hands shook, the myrrh run over her hands and fingers as she was drawing back the lock; which may denote that her grace was now in exercise and on the flow, in great abundance; which put her on her duty, and which became odorous and acceptable to Christ: or it may signify myrrh brought and left there by Christ; and may express the abundance of grace from him, communicated by him, to draw and allure her to him, to supple and soften her hard heart, to take off the stiffness of her will, and the rustiness of her affections, and make the lock of unbelief draw back easier, and so open a way for himself into her heart; and to excite grace in her, her faith and love, and cause her to come forth in exercise on him: and her hands and fingers "dropping" herewith shows that all the grace a believer has is from Christ, from whom, in the way of his duty, he receives a large measure of it: while the church was on her bed of sloth there was no flow of sweet smelling myrrh; but, now she is up and doing her duty, her hands and fingers are overflowed with it.
(f) "At lachrymans exclusus amator,----posteisque superbos unguit amaracino", Lucret. l. 4. prope finem. (g) "myrrham transeuntem", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. "probam", Tigurine version; "lachrymantem", Bochart; "quam Dioscorides vocat Myrrham Galiraeam".

dropped with myrrh--The best proof a bride could give her lover of welcome was to anoint herself (the back of the hands especially, as being the coolest part of the body) profusely with the best perfumes (Exodus 30:23; Esther 2:12; Proverbs 7:17); "sweet-smelling" is in the Hebrew rather, "spontaneously exuding" from the tree, and therefore the best. She designed also to anoint Him, whose "head was filled with the drops of night" (Luke 24:1). The myrrh typifies bitter repentance, the fruit of the Spirit's unction (2-Corinthians 1:21-22).
handles of the lock--sins which closed the heart against Him.

5 I arose to open to my beloved,
And my hands dropped with myrrh,
And my fingers with liquid myrrh,
On the handle of the bolt.
The personal pron. אני stands without emphasis before the verb which already contains it; the common language of the people delights in such particularity. The Book of Hosea, the Ephraimite prophet's work, is marked by such a style. עבר מור, with which the parallel clause goes beyond the simple mōr, is myrrh flowing over, dropping out of itself, i.e., that which breaks through the bark of the balsamodendron myrrha, or which flows out if an incision is made in it; myrrha stacte, of which Pliny (xii. 35) says: cui nulla praefertur, otherwise דּרור מר, from דּרר, to gush out, to pour itself forth in rich jets. He has come perfumed as if for a festival, and the costly ointment which he brought with him has dropped on the handles of the bolts (מנעוּל, keeping locked, after the form מלבּוּשׁ, drawing on), viz., the inner bolt, which he wished to withdraw. A classical parallel is found in Lucretius, iv. 1171:
"At lacrimans exclusus amator limina saepe
Floribus et sertis operit postesque superbos
Unguit amaracino"
Bttch. here puts to Hitzig the question, "Did the shepherd, the peasant of Engedi, bring with him oil of myrrh?" Rejecting this reasonable explanation, he supposes that the Shulamitess, still in Solomon's care, on rising up quickly dipped her hand in the oil of myrrh, that she might refresh her beloved. She thus had it near her before her bed, as a sick person her decoction. The right answer was, that the visitant by night is not that imaginary personage, but it is Solomon. She had dreamed that he stood before her door and knocked. But finding no response, he again in a moment withdrew, when it was proved that Shulamith did not requite his love and come forth to meet it in its fulness as she ought.

I rose - I went forth to receive him. Dropped - With oil or ointment made of myrrh, which dropped from the bridegroom's hand upon the door in great abundance, when he put it into the hole of the door, and consequently upon her hands and fingers when she touched the door to open it. By which she signifies, that Christ, though he withdrew himself from her, yet left a sweet savour behind him. The handles - Hebrews. with myrrh passing or flowing upon the handles of the lock, which place the bridegroom had touched when he attempted to open it.