page_title: Parable of the Ten Virgins
section_title: Interpretations
hierarchical_section_title: Parable of the Ten Virgins / Interpretations
context_page_description: The Parable of the Ten Virgins, also known as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins or the Parable of the ten bridesmaids, is one of the parables of Jesus. According to Matthew 25:1-13, ten virgins await a bridesgroom; five have brought enough oil for their lamps for the wait, while another five need to purchase more oil after the arrival is delayed. The five virgins who are prepared for the bridegroom's arrival are rewarded, while the five who are not prepared are disowned. The parable has a clear eschatological theme: be prepared for the Day of Judgement. It was one of the most popular parables in the Middle Ages and had influence on Gothic art, sculpture and the architecture of German and French cathedrals.
context_section_description: The parable is one of a sequence of responses to a question in Matthew 24:3:
  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
  — Matthew 24:3, King James Version
  Other parables in this sequence include the parable of the budding fig tree (Matthew 24:32–35) and the parable of the Faithful Servant (Matthew 24:42–51). The parable of the Ten Virgins reinforces the call for readiness in the face of the uncertain time of this second "coming." It has been described as a "watching parable." Like the parable of the Lost Coin, it is a parable about women which immediately follows, and makes the same point as, a preceding parable about men.
  In this parable, Jesus Christ is the bridegroom, echoing the Old Testament image of God as the bridegroom in Jeremiah 2:2 and similar passages, and the virgins are the Christians.  The awaited event is the Second Coming of Christ. R. T. France writes that the parable is "a warning addressed specifically to those inside the professing church who are not to assume that their future is unconditionally assured."
  The parable does not criticise the virgins for sleeping, since both groups do that, but for being unprepared as they brought no oil (it is unclear as to whether the foolish virgins succeed in purchasing any oil that night: most shops would not have been open). The New Testament scholar, Dan O. Via, considers the story of the bridesmaids as an example of a tragic parable with an inverted U-shaped plot. The rising action of the parable is the preparation for the coming of the bridegroom, but a crisis occurs when the bridegroom is delayed. This is the turning point (reversal or peripety) that leads to disaster. A recognition scene (anagnorisis) of the five foolish maidens occurs too late to reverse their fortunes (cf. Matthew 25:12). Yet the reader can benefit from their folly by considering the fatal flaw or hamartia that causes their downfall and by asking how their error in judgment can be avoided.
  The parable is not written in praise of virginity, and indeed Louis of Granada, in his The Sinner's Guide of 1555, writes "No one makes intercession with the Bridegroom for the five foolish virgins who, after despising the pleasures of the flesh and stifling in their hearts the fire of concupiscence, nay, after observing the great counsel of virginity, neglected the precept of humility and became inflated with pride on account of their virginity."
  Spencer W. Kimball gave an LDS perspective on the difference between the wise and the foolish virgins, and why they could not share the oil: "This was not selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity.... Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself."
caption: This painting by Hieronymus Francken the Younger (c. 1616) gives a moralistic interpretation of the parable.
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