4. 'A~/ysioi;, vessels) These represent the recesses of the heart.
5. 'Evuffragav, dozed) The Hebrew verb DU, to slumber or doze, is rendered by the LXX., wsreifyiv. Dozing takes place, either after sleep, as in Prov. vi. 10, or before it, as in Isa. v. 27, which is the case in the present passage. — [vacat, all) The prudent also fell asleep, and that not without peril ; but when they awoke, they had still oil enough. During the sleep of those, who have not previously enough thereof, their oil comes to an end. — B. G. V.]
6. Miffris ds wxrbg, but at midnight) i.e. during the deep sleep of even these virgins. — xpawyri, a cry) sc. to arouse them, accompanied by the blast of a trumpet.1
7. 'Hyep^riffav, were aroused) sc. from sleep. — xaaai, all) Then will the evil and the careless also2 awake. All things will be awakened. By how very little the foolish missed of entering in, and yet they are shut out.3
8. 2/3svmra;, are being extinguished*) this very moment, miserably.
9. Afyouffa/, x.r.X., saying, etc.) In this, as in everything else, they showed themselves prudent. — ^TOTS, x.r.X., lest, etc.) A broken5 sentence, suitable to the hurry of that event. — ol-/. dpxsffr,, there be not sufficient) sc. for both you and us : i.e. we cannot share with you : a metonomy of the consequent [for the antecedent]. Every one must live by his own faith. — rj/rfv, for us) The prudent now have hardly6 enough for their own use.
and abound "], for all future circumstances : so does the entrance to the Wedding- House become sure to him, and abundant besides, see 2 Pet. i. 11 [sc. " an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly "]. The foolish virgins did not even remain resting only on their own unassisted nature : they too had something of grace and of the Spirit. Nowhere is it more clearly (deutlicher) written than here how far a soul can advance in good, and yet fall through (durchfalleri) : see ver. 8." — B. G. V. in loc.
1 Far louder than earth's loudest artillery : see 1 Thess. iv. 16. — B. G. V.
2 Sc. As well as the good and the prudent. — (I. B.)
3 In the original, " et tamen excidiuit," corresponding with the " durch- fallen" above. — (I. B.)
4 E. V. " are gone out."— (1. B.)
5 "Not so," is not expressed in the original, which abruptly begins with
t," " lest haply. " — ED.
e." There is here an allusion to 1 Peter iv. 18, where Bengel