The Parable of the Ten Virgins #7

The Parable of the Ten Virgins, sometimes called the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids or the Wise and Foolish Virgins, is a story Jesus told about ten young women waiting for a bridegroom who arrives later than expected. It appears only in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 25:1-13) and is one of the central teachings on being spiritually prepared for the return of Christ.

The Parable

Jesus says the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five were foolish and five were wise. The foolish took lamps but no extra oil, while the wise took flasks of oil along with their lamps (Matthew 25:1-4). The bridegroom was delayed, and all ten became drowsy and fell asleep (Matthew 25:5).

At midnight a cry went up that the bridegroom was coming. The women trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones, whose lamps were going out, asked the wise for oil. The wise refused, saying there would not be enough for everyone, and told them to go and buy some. While they were away, the bridegroom came, those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut (Matthew 25:6-10). When the other five returned and asked to be let in, the bridegroom answered that he did not know them. Jesus closes with the lesson: therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour (Matthew 25:11-13).

Context

Jesus tells the story as part of his teaching on the Mount of Olives about his return, after warning that no one knows the day or hour (Matthew 24:36). It comes immediately before the Parable of the Talents and the account of the sheep and the goats. Jesus elsewhere describes himself as the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15), and the Old Testament often pictures God as the husband of his people.

Jewish weddings in the first century were typically long events with the groom’s procession taking place in the evening or at night. The groom would come to the bride’s home, often at an uncertain time, and be escorted with a torch-lit procession to the feast. Bridesmaids waiting for the procession would need lamps, and the flasks were for refilling them. The delay in the story fits the wider setting that the master or bridegroom is away a long time in Matthew 24 and 25.

Meaning

Both groups of women have lamps and both fall asleep, so the difference is not alertness at every moment but preparation. Jesus stresses readiness for a return that may be delayed, and that readiness cannot be borrowed from someone else at the last minute.

Interpreters differ on what the oil represents. Some early Christian writers took it as good works or love, while many Protestant readers understand it as the Holy Spirit or genuine, lasting faith. Other commentators, including some Catholic and Orthodox writers, read it as charity and the inner life of grace. Still others caution against assigning an exact symbol, since the text does not do so. All agree on the closing command to stay ready, and that the closed door signals a real, serious judgment rather than a mere reprimand.