TEXT [Commentary]

6. The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids (25:1-13)

1 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids[*] who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’

7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’

9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’

12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’

13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.”

NOTES

25:1 The Kingdom of Heaven will be like. This parable begins with the familiar comparison formula seen in 13:24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47, 52; 18:23; 20:1. The reference to a wedding reminds the reader of the allusion to the same activity in the days of Noah (24:38).

bridesmaids. Lit., “virgins,” young unmarried women who in the custom of that day attended the bride. It is not clear whether they waited with the bride at her father’s house or waited at the groom’s house for him to bring the bride to the wedding feast (Song 3:11; 1 Macc 9:37-42; Josephus Antiquities 13.20). The legal contract of betrothal or engagement would have already been executed, and the groom might take his bride at any time to celebrate their wedding and begin to live together (1:18).

25:2-5 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The wise and foolish bridesmaids are very similar to the faithful and evil servants in the previous parable (24:45, 48). The five foolish bridesmaids expect the groom to arrive rapidly, but the wise are prepared for a possible delay.

lamps. These may actually be torches, sticks with oil-soaked rags wrapped around one end.

extra oil. Lit., “oil in flasks.”

the bridegroom. God’s relationship with Israel is likened to a bridegroom’s with a bride in the OT (e.g., Isa 54:4-6; 62:5; Jer 31:32; Ezek 16:7ff; Hos 2:16, 19), and in this parable Jesus portrays himself in an equivalent relationship with his disciples.

was delayed. As it happens, there is a delay (cf. 24:48), and the bridesmaids grow drowsy and fall asleep.

25:6 Look, the bridegroom is coming! In the middle of the night (24:43), a shout is heard announcing the bridegroom’s imminent arrival (cf. the trumpet of 24:31). The bridesmaids are summoned to come out to meet him and join the procession to his house for the feast (22:2-14).

25:7-9 prepared their lamps. They prepared their lamps (perhaps torches) by trimming the wicks and adding oil. But the lamps of the foolish bridesmaids were going out for lack of oil ( Job 18:5; Prov 13:9). The wise bridesmaids could not give them oil from their flasks because there would not be enough to go around and everyone would be in the dark. The foolish bridesmaids have no choice but to go out to buy more oil. Such a task takes time, especially in the middle of the night.

25:10 while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Once he arrived, the procession to the wedding feast occurred. Once everyone arrived at the groom’s house, the door was locked (cf. 24:33).

25:11-13 Open the door for us! The foolish bridesmaids arrived too late to be included in the wedding feast. Their appeal to the groom and his refusal to permit their entry contain language that ominously recalls 7:21-23 (cf. Ps 1:6; Luke 13:25). This seems unrealistically harsh, but compare 22:11-14 for similar treatment of wedding guests.

keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return. The unmistakable lesson is clearly stated at the end of the story: constant alertness is necessary because the time of the bridegroom’s coming is not known (24:3, 36, 39, 42-44, 50; Acts 1:6-7; 1 Thess 5:2-6). The problem is not that the bridesmaids slept, since the groom’s arrival was delayed. The problem is that the foolish bridesmaids were not prepared when he did come. The NLT’s words “of my return” are a correct interpretation of 25:13, but they are not present in the Gr. text.

COMMENTARY [Text]

The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids demonstrates for the last time in the discourse that the time of Jesus’ return is unknowable (cf. 24:3, 36, 39, 42-44, 50; 25:13). This thesis has been stated propositionally (24:36) and then illustrated historically from the days of Noah (24:37-42). It is also presented in the parables about the unexpected burglar (24:43), good slave (24:45-47), and evil slave (24:48-51). As if these previous demonstrations of the point were not enough, the present parable illustrates it from yet another familiar event, a wedding. Expecting the immediate arrival of the groom to begin the wedding feast, five of the ten bridesmaids foolishly did not prepare for nightfall by bringing oil for their lamps. But the five others wisely prepared for a delay. The foolishness of the former group resulted in their missing the bridegroom and being banned from the wedding feast, but the wise preparations of the latter group led to their sharing in the joy of the wedding (cf. 9:15).

The interpretation of this parable has been unnecessarily complicated by excessive allegorizing. It is true that wedding feasts and lamps are used metaphorically elsewhere in Scripture (Rev 1:12-13; 19:7, 9). Jesus himself indicates that the features of certain parables have detailed correspondences with reality (13:18-23, 37-43, 49-50), but in the case of the present parable, Jesus supplied only a generalizing conclusion (25:13). It seems clear enough that Jesus is the bridegroom whose arrival is delayed, and that the wise and foolish bridesmaids are alert and lackadaisical disciples, respectively. The expectation of the bridegroom lends itself perfectly to the point of alert preparedness for the coming of Jesus, but one should not be concerned with whether the rapture of believers or the return of Jesus to the earth is in view (Walvoord 1974:196-197). Neither should one succumb to the common temptation to identify the oil in the parable with the Holy Spirit (Green 1988:240; Hendriksen 1973:879), or stress that salvation cannot be transferred from one person to another (Tasker:1961:234). Perhaps such speculations are pleasant intellectual exercises, but they divert attention from the ethical imperative found in 25:13 and thus function like the distracting activities which diverted Noah’s generation from awareness of their imminent judgment (cf. 24:38-39).

The foolish bridesmaids’ lack of prudence is similar to the foolishness of the man who built his house on the sand, a portrayal of one who did not obey the words of Jesus (7:24-27). A comparison of 24:48 and 25:5 shows that the lesson of this parable is the same as that of the evil slave. In both cases, some delay in the return of Jesus is postulated. But the two reactions to the delay are opposites, and in these opposite reactions there is a crucial lesson. In the first case, the evil slave irresponsibly overestimated the delay of the master’s return and was unpleasantly surprised by the master’s seemingly early arrival. In the second case, the foolish bridesmaids frivolously underestimated the delay in the groom’s arrival and did not prepare for it. The evil slave’s lackadaisical approach to the master’s return is similar to the generation of Noah and the homeowner, neither of whom expected a problem (24:36-44). Neither were alert and ready. The foolish bridesmaids were not prepared to persevere to the end (cf. 10:22; 13:20-21; 24:13). From these opposite errors, the church learns that it can assume neither that Jesus will return immediately nor that he will return eventually. Christians must expect Jesus constantly, yet at the same time they must persevere and plan for future ministry in case his coming is delayed. These two duties must be held in dynamic tension if the church is to be faithful to the teaching of its master (Luke 12:35-36).