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?
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