Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Matthew 25:7

Trimmed their lamps - Burning until midnight, the oil was exhausted: they gave a dim and obscure light. They trimmed them by removing the burnt parts of the linen or the torch, so that they would burn clear. It was needful, also, to dip them again in oil, or to pour oil upon them. This strikingly represents the conduct of most people at the approach of death. They then begin to make ready. They are alarmed, anxious, and trembling, and then they ask the aid of others, but often when it is... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Matthew 25:6-8

Matthew 25:6-8. And at midnight In an hour quite unthought of, and the most alarming. Perhaps the tradition mentioned by Jerome, which asserted that Christ would come to judgment at midnight, might be borrowed from hence; though certainly it is a very absurd one, since that can be the case only under one meridian at a time. There was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh As Christ’s coming to judge the world will be at a time the least expected; so then a great cry will be made, for... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Matthew 25:1-13

133. The ten girls (Matthew 25:1-13)Matthew 25:0 records three stories or pictures from Jesus, all of which illustrate the teaching he had just given. He would leave the world for an unknown length of time, then return. Those who prepared themselves for his return would enter his kingdom with joy; those who did not would suffer loss. The three passages show three reasons for people’s failure - thoughtlessness, laziness and indifference.A Jewish marriage followed a period of engagement that was... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Matthew 25:7

7. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps—the foolish virgins as well as the wise. How very long do both parties seem the same—almost to the moment of decision! Looking at the mere form of the parable, it is evident that the folly of "the foolish" consisted not in having no oil at all; for they must have had oil enough in their lamps to keep them burning up to this moment: their folly consisted in not making provision against its exhaustion, by taking with their lamp an... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 25:1-13

The parable of the 10 virgins 25:1-13This parable helps disciples understand what it means to await the King’s return with prudence.". . . the point is simply that readiness, whatever form it takes, is not something that can be achieved by a last-minute adjustment. It depends on long-term provision, and if that has been made, the wise disciple can sleep secure in the knowledge that everything is ready." [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 947.] read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 25:3-46

VI. THE OFFICIAL PRESENTATION AND REJECTION OF THE KING 19:3-25:46This section of the Gospel continues Jesus’ instruction of His disciples in preparation for their future (Matthew 19:3 to Matthew 20:34). Then Jesus presented Himself formally to Israel as her King with His triumphal entry (Matthew 21:1-17). This resulted in strong rejection by Israel’s leaders (Matthew 21:18 to Matthew 22:46). Consequently Jesus pronounced His rejection of Israel (ch. 23). Finally He revealed to His disciples... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 25:6-9

Midnight probably also has significance since it is often the time of judgment in Scripture (e.g., Exodus 11:4). When someone announced the arrival of the groom, the virgins all woke up and trimmed their lamps. However the lamps of the foolish soon began to go out (present tense in the Greek text). The preparations of the wise virgins did the unwise no good. The time to prepare had passed.Though Jesus did not go into this, the bride in the parable must be the church, the bride of Christ (cf. 2... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 25:1-46

The Ten Viegins. The Talents. The Sheep and the GoatsThe whole of this a, which is entirely concerned with the Second Advent, and contains some of the most striking of all Christ’s sayings, is peculiar to St. Matthew.1-13. Parable of the Ten Virgins. Professing Christians, who alone are addressed here, are warned of the absolute need of sufficient oil, i.e. of sufficient depth and reality in the spiritual life, if they are to be admitted into Christ’s kingdom hereafter. Unless the life of the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Matthew 25:1-46

Matthew 25:1 The way by which a human soul born in sin becomes a kingdom of heaven, is the way of the New Birth, wherein God takes away our sin by the cleansing of the Precious Blood of Christ, and makes us by the power of His Holy Spirit partakers of the Divine nature. I. God being the germ of every true human character, if we want to know that true human nature is, we must know first what is the character of God, Who is its ideal, and the root out of which it grows. That character is summed... read more

Group of Brands