Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 25:10
(10) While they went to buy.—The words imply that had they gone earlier, as the wise virgins, by hypothesis, had done, all would have been well. The mistake lay in their not having gone before. It is too late, in other words, to have recourse to the ordinary means of grace for the formation of character, to ordinances, sacraments, rules of life, at the moment of the crisis in personal or national life, which answers to the coming of the bridegroom. The door is then shut, and is no longer opened... read more
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