Marie Rosenblatt's 'Parable Of The Ten Virgins'
THE CHOICE PRESENTED IN THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS
The parable of the Ten Virgins, found in Matthew 25, has been a commonly debated passage of scripture in terms of interpretation. Ranging from the importance of preparedness to the misogynistic oppression of women & denial of rights eisegeted by Marie Rosenblatt, the interpretation of this passage has seen many different variations, each seemingly falling short in one way of another.
Found in the second chapter of his Olivet Discourse, Christ describes the scene of wedding. Ten maidens equipped with lamps eagerly awaited the bridegroom’s arrival, but only five of the maidens were truly prepared for the occasion and had brought oil with them. In desperate need of oil, the unprepared maidens left the ceremony to locate said oil for themselves. While they were gone, the bridegroom had arrived in their absence. The banquet began, and the unprepared maidens were shut out of the palace.
Many interpret this passage as an allegory, in which the unprepared maidens symbolize those …show more content…
Delving into the context of the narrative shows Jesus delivering what is called the Olivet Discourse, which is the record of Jesus’ foretelling of the end of the age shortly before his crucifixion, thus making this specific discourse one of the few scenes in which Jesus gives his eschatology. The parable of the ten virgins functions as a direct continuation of the previous topic in the discourse, which is the unexpectedness of the messiah’s coming. All throughout Jewish history, descriptions and prophecies of the messiah had been passed down from generation to generation as an oppressed people eagerly awaited their great deliverer. The people knew what they were expecting, regardless of the fact that they did not know when the messiah would be
The parable of the Ten Virgins, found in Matthew 25, has been a commonly debated passage of scripture in terms of interpretation. Ranging from the importance of preparedness to the misogynistic oppression of women & denial of rights eisegeted by Marie Rosenblatt, the interpretation of this passage has seen many different variations, each seemingly falling short in one way of another.
Found in the second chapter of his Olivet Discourse, Christ describes the scene of wedding. Ten maidens equipped with lamps eagerly awaited the bridegroom’s arrival, but only five of the maidens were truly prepared for the occasion and had brought oil with them. In desperate need of oil, the unprepared maidens left the ceremony to locate said oil for themselves. While they were gone, the bridegroom had arrived in their absence. The banquet began, and the unprepared maidens were shut out of the palace.
Many interpret this passage as an allegory, in which the unprepared maidens symbolize those …show more content…
Delving into the context of the narrative shows Jesus delivering what is called the Olivet Discourse, which is the record of Jesus’ foretelling of the end of the age shortly before his crucifixion, thus making this specific discourse one of the few scenes in which Jesus gives his eschatology. The parable of the ten virgins functions as a direct continuation of the previous topic in the discourse, which is the unexpectedness of the messiah’s coming. All throughout Jewish history, descriptions and prophecies of the messiah had been passed down from generation to generation as an oppressed people eagerly awaited their great deliverer. The people knew what they were expecting, regardless of the fact that they did not know when the messiah would be