My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

SONG OF SOLOMON 5:4KJV
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Song of Solomon 5:4 (KJV)

What does Song of Solomon 5:4 mean?

Song of Solomon 5:4 describes a woman’s powerful emotional response when her beloved reaches through an opening in the door. His gesture stirs her longing for him, expressed in the physical language of the King James Version.

The woman is recounting the encounter after hesitating to open the door in verse 3. The opening may be a place where someone could reach a door latch. The verse brings the beloved close to her, while the closed door still separates them.

The Hebrew behind Song of Solomon 5:4

  • “bowels” — מֵעִים (meʿim): The word refers to the inner parts of the body. In this verse, the KJV uses it as a way of speaking about deep feeling, rather than simply describing an organ.
  • “moved” — הָמָה (hamah): This word can carry the sense of stirring or being in turmoil. It gives the woman’s response a sense of strong inward agitation.

Why Song of Solomon 5:4 matters

  • The KJV’s “my bowels were moved for him” is an expression of emotion, not a reference to a bowel movement. The phrase locates her feelings deep within her body.
  • The verse marks a change in the encounter. After her hesitation, her beloved’s hand at the opening is followed by her decision to rise and open the door in verse 5.
  • The gesture also sets up the painful turn that follows. By the time she opens the door in verse 6, her beloved has gone, and she goes out to seek him.

Where else these words appear

“hole” Hebrew H2356 · used in 7 verses

  • 1 Samuel 14:11 And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
  • Job 30:6 To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
  • Nahum 2:12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.

“by” Hebrew H4480 · used in 25 verses

  • Genesis 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
  • Leviticus 9:10 But the fat, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver of the sin offering, he burnt upon the altar; as the LORD commanded Moses.
  • 1 Samuel 30:19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

“bowels” Hebrew H4578 · used in 30 verses

  • Genesis 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
  • 2 Chronicles 21:19 And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.
  • Isaiah 49:1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

“moved” Hebrew H1993 · used in 32 verses

  • 1 Kings 1:41 And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?
  • Psalms 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
  • Isaiah 59:11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.