Matthew 25:3

“They that were foolish took their lamps, etc.] The Vulgate Latin, and Munster’s Hebrew Gospel, read, “the five foolish”, whose folly is here exposed; and which lay not merely, or only in taking up the lamps of a profession in a wrong way, and upon a wrong bottom, but chiefly in what follows; and took no oil with them: by oil is meant, not temporal blessings, nor spiritual ones, nor the Gospel, nor the gifts of the Spirit, all which are sometimes signified by oil; but either the Spirit of God himself, who is the oil of gladness, and the anointing which teacheth all things; or the regenerating and sanctifying grace of the Spirit, even all the graces which are implanted by him in conversion:…”

“And five of them were wise - . The words “wise and foolish,” here, refer only to their conduct; in regard to the oil. The one part was “wise” in taking oil, the other “foolish” in neglecting it. The conduct of those who were “wise” refers to those who are “prepared” for the coming of Christ - prepared by possessing real piety, and not being merely his professed followers. The conduct of those “without” oil expresses the conduct of those who profess to love him, but are destitute of true grace, and are therefore unprepared to meet him. Nothing can be argued from the number here in regard to the proportion of sincere Christians among professors. circumstances in parables are not to be pressed…”

“The foolish took no oil with them - No more than kept them burning just for the present. None to supply their future want, to recruit their lamp's decay. The lamp is faith. A lamp and oil with it, is faith working by love. Matthew 25:4”

“25:3 While some have speculated that the oil symbolizes something specific (such as the Holy Spirit), it probably merely supports the point that proper preparation for the second coming of Christ is needed.”

“foolish: Mat 23:25, Mat 23:26; Isa 48:1, Isa 48:2, Isa 58:2; Eze 33:3; Ti2 3:5; Heb 12:15; Rev 3:1, Rev 3:15, Rev 3:16 Matthew 25:4”