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a Eph. v. 29,

30. Rev. xix. 7: xxi. 2, 9.

xxii. 10.

r

to meet a the bridegroom. 2b And five of them were r wise, bch. xi. 47 and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom [ cometh]; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose,

с

e 1 Thess. v. 6. t tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

13.

r in the ancient authorities these words are transposed.
read, For the foolish, when they took their lamps.
t render, delayed.

It

in marriage processions: see also Luke xix. to meet the bridegroom] would appear that these virgins had left their own homes, and were waiting somewhere for the bridegroom to come,-probably at the house of the bride; for the object of the marriage procession was to fetch the bride to the bridegroom's house. Meyer however supposes that in this case the wedding was to be held in the bride's house, on account of the thing signifiedthe coming of the Lord to His Church;but it is better to take the ordinary custom, and interpret accordingly, where we can. In both the wedding parables (see ch. xxii.) the bride does not appear-for she, being the Church, is in fact the aggregate of the guests in the one case, and of the companions in the other.

We may perhaps say that she is here, in the strict interpretation, the Jewish Church, and these ten virgins Gentile congregations accompanying her. This went forth is not their final going out in ver. 6, for only half of them did so,-but their leaving their own homes: compare took, in vv. 3, 4. The interpretation is-these are souls come out from the world into the Church, and there waiting for the coming of the Lord— not hypocrites, but faithful souls, bearing their lamps (their own lamps; so, literally compare 1 Thess. iv. 4)-the inner spiritual life fed with the oil of God's Spirit (see Zech. iv. 2-12: Acts x. 38: Heb. i. 9). All views of this parable which represent the foolish virgins as having only a dead faith, only the lamp without the light, the body without the spirit, &c., are quite beside the purpose ;-the lamps (see ver. 8) were all burning at first, and for a certain time. Whether the equal partition of wise and foolish have any deep meaning we cannot say; it may be so.

3, 4.] These were not torches, nor wicks fastened on staves, as some have supposed, but properly lamps: and the oil vessels (which is most important to the parable) were separate from the lamps.

и see note.

▾ omit.

The

The lamps being the hearts lit with the flame of heavenly love and patience, supplied with the oil of the Spirit,-now comes in the difference between the wise and foolish: the one made no provision for the supply of this-the others did. How so? The wise ones gave all diligence to make their calling and election sure (2 Pet. i. 10 and 5-8), making their bodies, souls, and spirits (their vessels, 2 Cor. iv. 7) a means of supplying spiritual food for the light within, by seeking, in the appointed means of grace, more and more of God's Holy Spirit. The others did not this-but trusting that the light, once burning, would ever burn, made no provision for the strengthening of the inner man by watchfulness and prayer. 5-7] delayed: compare ch. xxiv. 48, where the Greek verb rendered delayeth is the same. same English rendering ought to have been kept here. But the thought of the foolish virgins is very different from that of the wicked servant: his-there will be plenty of time, my Lord tarrieth;'-theirs, surely He will soon be here, there is no need of a store of oil.' This may serve to shew how altogether diverse is the ground of the two parables. they all slumbered and slept] I believe no more is meant here than that all, being weak by nature, gave way to drowsiness: as indeed the wakefulness of the holiest Christian, compared with what it should be, is a sort of slumber-but, the while, how much difference was there between them! Some understand this verse of sleep in death. But, not to mention that this will not fit the machinery of the parable (see below on ver. 8), it would assume (they all) that none of the faithful would be living on earth when the Lord a cry made] See Isa. lxii. 5-7 and the porter's duty, Mark xiii. 34. This warning cry is before the coming: see ver. 10. The exact rendering is present, graphically setting the reality before us: there ariseth a cry. all] All now seem alike-all wanted their lamps

comes.

:

d

W

and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto d Luke xii. 35. the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, [Not 80;] lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was e Luke xiii. 25. shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 8 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour [a wherein the Son of man cometh].

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h

23.

ch. vii. 21, 22, ch. xxiv. 42,

44. 1 Cor. xvi. 13.

Thess. v. 6.

1 Pet. v. 8. Rev. xvi. 15.

i ch. xxi. 33.

14 h For [the kingdom of heaven is] as a man travelling Luke xix. 12 into a far country, [who] called his own servants, and

render, going out.

I not expressed in the original.

Z render,

▾ render for perspicuity (the pronoun is feminine), the virgins. the marriage feast.

a omit.

bnot expressed in the original. © the original has only, leaving his country, or, his home: see ch. xxi. 33.

trimmed-but for the neglectful, there
is not wherewith. It is not enough to
have burnt, but to be burning, when He
comes. Raise the wick as they will, what
avails it if the oil is spent? trimmed]

"by pouring on fresh oil, and removing
the fungi about the wick: for the latter
purpose a sharp-pointed wire was attached
to the lamp, which is still seen in the
bronze lamps found in sepulchres." Webst.
and Wilk. 8, 9.] are going out;—
not as A. V., are gone out:' and there
is deep truth in this: the lamps of the
foolish virgins are not extinguished alto-
gether. lest there be not enough]
See Ps. xlix. 7: Rom. xiv. 12. No man
can have more of this provision than will
supply his own wants.
go ye rather]
This is not said in mockery, as some sup-
pose but in earnest. them that sell]
These are the ordinary dispensers of the
means of grace-ultimately of course God
Himself, who alone can give his Spirit.
The counsel was good, and well followed-
but the time was past. Observe that those
who sell are a particular class of persons-
no mean argument for a set and appointed
ministry; and moreover for a paid minis-
try. If they sell, they receive for the thing
sold: compare our Lord's saying, Luke x.
7. This selling bears no analogy with the
crime of Simon Magus in Acts viii. com-
pare our Lord's other saying, Matt. x. 8.

10-12.] We are not told that they could not buy-that the shops were shut

but simply that it was too late for that time. For it is not the final coming of the Lord to judgment, when the day of grace will be past, that is spoken of,-except in so far as it is hinted at in the background, and in the individual application of the parable (virtually, not actually) coincides, to each man, with the day of his death. This feast is the marriage supper of Rev. xix. 7-9 (see also ib. xxi. 2); after which these improvident ones gone to buy their oil shall be judged in common with the rest of the dead, ibid. xx. 12, 13. Observe

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here, I know you not is very different, as the whole circumstances are different, from "I never knew you," in ch. vii. 23, where the Depart from me" binds it to our ver. 41, and to the time of the final judgment, spoken of in that parable. [See the note at the end of the chapter.]

14-30.] PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. Peculiar to Matthew. The similar parable contained in Luke xix. 11-27 is altogether distinct, and uttered on a different occasion: see notes there. 14.] The

ellipsis is rightly supplied in the A. V., For [the kingdom of heaven is] as a man, &c. We have this parable and the preceding one alluded to in very few words by Mark xiii. 34-36. In it we have the active side of the Christian life, and its danger, set before us, as in the last the contemplative side. There, the foolish virgins failed, from thinking their part too easy-here the wicked servant fails, from

delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave

k Rom. xii. five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every

1 Cor. xii. 7, 11, 20. Eph. iv. 11.

man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful 1 ch. xxiv. 47. servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things,' I will m2 Tim 12. make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into

ver. 34, 46. Heb. xii. 2.

the

joy of thy lord. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will

thinking his too hard. The parable is still
concerned with Christians (his own ser-
vants), and not the world at large.

We must remember the relation of master
and slave, in order to understand his de-
livering to them his property, and punish-
ing them for not fructifying with it.
15.] In Luke each receives the same, but
the profit made by each is different: see
notes there. Here, in fact, they did each
receive the same, for they received accord-
ing to their ability-their character and
powers. There is no Pelagianism in this,
for each man's powers are themselves the
gift of God. 16-18.] The increase
gained by each of the two faithful servants
was the full amount of their talents:-of
each will be required as much as has been
given. The third servant here is not to
be confounded with the wicked servant
in ch. xxiv. 48. This one is not actively
an ill-doer, but a hider of the money en-
trusted to him-one who brings no profit:
see on ver. 24. 19-23. After a long
time] Here again, as well as in the delay
of ver. 5 and ch. xxiv. 48, we have an in-
timation that the interval would be no
short one. This proceeding is not, strictly
speaking, the last judgment, but still the
same as that in the former parable; the
beginning of judgment at the house of God

-the judgment of the millennial advent. This to the servants of Christ (his own servants, ver. 14), is their final judgmentbut not that of the rest of the world. We may observe that this great account differs from the coming of the bridegroom, inasmuch as this is altogether concerned with a course of action past-that with a present state of preparation. This holds, in the individual application, of the account after the resurrection; that, at the utmost (and not in the direct sense of the parable even so much), of being ready for his summons at death. 20.] The faithful servant does not take the praise to himself -thou deliveredst unto me is his confession - and beside them the enabling cause of his gain;-'without Me, ye can do nothing,' John xv. 5. This is plainer in Luke (xix. 16), Thy pound hath gained ten pounds.' See 1 Cor. xv. 10:-and on the joy and alacrity of these faithful servants in the day of reckoning, 1 Thess. ii. 19: 2 Cor. i. 14: Phil. iv. 1. 21.] See the corresponding sentence in Luke xix. 17, and note. The joy here is not a feast, as sometimes interpreted, but that joy spoken of Heb. xii. 2, and Isa. liii. 11-that joy of the Lord arising from the completion of His work and labour of love, of which the first Sabbatical rest of the Creator was typical

66

make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [d there] thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not. strawed: 27 thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the

d not expressed in the original.

Gen. i. 31; ii. 2,-and of which His faith-
ful ones shall in the end partake: see
Heb. iv. 3-11: Rev. iii. 21.
Notice

the identity of the praise and portion of
him who had been faithful in less, with
those of the first. The words are, as
has been well observed, "not, 'good and
successful servant,' but good and faith-
ful servant:"" and faithfulness does not
depend on amount. 24, 25.] This
sets forth the excuse which men are per-
petually making of human infirmity and
inability to keep God's commands, when
they never apply to that grace which might
enable them to do so-an excuse, as here,
self-convicting, and false at heart.
reaping where thou hast not sown] The
connexion of thought in this our Lord's
last parable, with His first (ch. xiii. 3-9),
is remarkable. He looks for fruit where
He has sown-this is truth: but not beyond
the power of the soil by Him enabled-this
is man's lie, to encourage himself in idle-
I was afraid] See Gen. iii. 10.
But that pretended fear, and this insolent
speech, are inconsistent, and betray the
falsehood of his answer. thou hast
that is thine] This is also false-it was
not so-for there was his lord's time, and
his own labour, which was his lord's-to be
accounted for. 26, 27.] St. Luke pre-
fixes "out of thine own mouth will I judge
thee,"-viz. 'because, knowing the relation
between us, that of absolute power on my
part over thee,-if thou hadst really
thought me such an hard master, thou
oughtest &c., in order to avoid utter ruin.
But this was not thy real thought-thou
wert wicked and slothful.'
knewest, &c. is not concessive, but hy-
pothetical;-God is not really such a
Master.
the exchangers, in Luke

ness.

thou

(xix. 23) "the bank" (exchange).
There was a saying very current among
the early Fathers, "Be ye worthy ex-
changers," which some of them seem
to attribute to the Lord, some to one
of the Apostles. It is supposed by some
to be taken from this place, and it is
just possible it may have been but it
more likely was traditional, or from some
apocryphal gospel. Suicer discusses the
question, and inclines to think that it
was a way of expressing the general moral
of the two parables in Matt. and Luke.

But, in the interpretation, who are these exchangers? The explanation (Olsh., and adopted by Trench, Parables, p. 247) of their being those stronger characters who may lead the more timid to the useful employments of gifts which they have not energy to use, is objectionable (1) as not answering to the character addressedhe was not timid, but false and slothful: -and (2) nor to the facts of the case: for it is impossible to employ the grace given to one through another's means, without working one's self. I rather

take it to mean, 'If thou hadst really been afraid, &c., slothful as thou art, thou mightest at least, without trouble to thyself, have provided that I should have not been defrauded of the interest of my money-but now thou art both slothful and wicked, in having done me this injustice.' Observe there would have been no praise due to the servant-but "that which is mine" would not have lost its increase. The machinery of religious and charitable societies in our day is very much in the place of the exchangers. Let the subscribers to them take heed that they be not in the degraded case of this servant, even if his excuse had been genu

n ch. xiii. 12.

talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten
talents. 29 n For unto every one that hath shall be given,
and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not
shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And
into outer darkness:

och, vill. 12: cast ye the unprofitable servant

χχίν. 51.

p Zech. xiv. 5. ch. xvi. 27:

xix. 28.

there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

31 pe When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the [holy] angels with him, then shall he sit upon 16. Thess. the throne of his glory: 32 and 9 before him shall be ga

Acts i. 11.

1 Thess. iv.

i. 7. Jude

r

14. Rev. 17 thered all nations: and he shall separate them one from

q Rom. xiv. 10. 2 Cor. v. 10.

Rev. xx. 12. another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the

r Ezek. xxxiv. 17. ch. xiii. 49.

e render, But when: literally, Whenever.

the oldest authorities.

f omitted in many of

8 render, all the nations.

ine. 28-31.] This command is answered in Luke xix. 25, by a remonstrance from those addressed, which the Master overrules by stating the great law of His kingdom. On ch. xiii. 12, we have explained this as applied to the system of

teaching by parables. Here it is predicated of the whole Christian life. It is the case even in nature: a limb used is strengthened; disused, becomes weak. The transference of the talent is not a matter of justice between man and man, but is done in illustration of this law, and in virtue of that sovereign power by which God does what He will with his own see Rom. xi. 29, and note there. In the outer darkness there is again an allusion to the marriage supper of the Lamb, from which the useless servant being excluded, gnashes his teeth with remorse without: see ch. xxii. 13.

31-46.] THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF ALL THE NATIONS. Peculiar to Matthew. In the two former parables we have seen the difference between, and judgment of, Christians-in their inward readiness for their Lord, and their outward diligence in profiting by his gifts. And both these had reference to that first resurrection and millennial Kingdom, the reality of which is proved by the passages of Scripture cited in the notes above, and during which all Christians shall be judged. We now come to the great and universal judgment at the end of this period, also prophesied of distinctly in order in Rev. xx. 11-15-in which all the dead, small and great, shall stand before God. This last great judgment answers to the judg ment on Jerusalem, after the Christians had escaped from it: to the gathering of

the eagles (ministers of vengeance) to the carcase. Notice the precision of the words in ver. 31, when(ever)—this setting forth the indefiniteness of the time-the but the distinction from the two parables foregoing; and then, to mark a precise time when all this shall take place-a day of judgment. Compare, for the better understanding of the distinction and connexion of these two comings' of the Lord, 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17, and 2 Thess. i. 7-10. This description is not a parable, though there are in it parabolic passages, e. g. as a shepherd, &c.: and for that very reason, that which is illustrated by those likenesses is not itself parabolic. It will heighten our estimation of the wonderful sublimity of this description, when we recollect that it was spoken by the Lord only three days before his sufferings.

31. in his glory] This expression, repeated again at the end of the verse, is quite distinct from with power and great glory ch. xxiv. 30: see Rev. xx. 11. This His glory is that also of all his saints, with whom He shall be accompanied: see Jude ver. 14. In this his coming they are with the angels, and as the angels: see Rev. xix. 14 (compare ver. 8): Zech. xiv. 5. 32.] The expression all the nations implies all the nations of the world, as distinguished from the elect already gathered to Him, just as the Gentiles were by that name distinguished from his chosen people the Jews. Among these are "the other sheep which He has, not of this fold," John x. 16. he shall separate] See Ezek. xxxiv. 17. The sheep are those referred to in Rom. ii. 7, 10; the goats in ib. vv. 8, 9, where this same judgment according to works is spoken of

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