The ten virgins in the parable in Matthew 25 weren't there to become brides. Even in a polygamous culture, no groom marries ten women in a single night. These women were part of the bride's wedding party, like bride's maids in our wedding customs today.

Trying to find out how this works and how to meet others. :wave:

Shabbat Shalom Mishpacha ?

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
Matthew 25:1

Matthew Henry wrote that the Jews at that time had a marriage custom in which the bridegroom and his retinue would come to for his bride in the middle of the night, while the bride's maids waited to light the way. It certainly fits the parable, but I don't know what his source was.

He speculated that they usually had ten of these maids, but that is only speculation. The number isn't arbitrary. Two virgins would have made the point just as well. The number 10 has either cultural or theological significance. Could it be an allusion to the ten menorahs in Solomon's temple?
#jesus #yeshua #biblestudy