Bible Strands
Matthew 25:1
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses his disciples following his Olivet Discourse, using a parable to describe the kingdom at the close of the present age. He speaks to the gathered followers about a future arrival they must anticipate.
The words — ὁμοιωθὴσεται (homoiōthēsetai) translates as "will be likened," structuring the comparison. παρθένοις (parthenois) means "virgins," identifying the specific group given the task of waiting.
The thread — The text's emphasis on preparedness for an unknown arrival runs through Matthew 24:42, which commands watchfulness because the day is unspecified. Luke 12:35 parallels the lamp imagery with a direct order to remain dressed for service, while Revelation 19:7 connects the waiting motif to the marriage of the Lamb.
Why it lands — The passage requires practical readiness for a delayed return, distinguishing those who make provisions from those who do not. It asks the reader to verify whether their own conduct accounts for an unpredictable timeline.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Cross-references
- Luke 12:35 Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.
- Matthew 24:42 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
- Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.
- Philippians 2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
- John 3:29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
- Revelation 21:9 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
- Isaiah 54:5 For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
- Matthew 13:24 Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
- Revelation 21:2 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- Matthew 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.