Then (Good News Translation “At that time”) translates a particle used by Matthew about ninety times, but only six times by Mark and thirteen times by Luke. It has a wide range of meaning. Many translators relate it to the previous passage and say “When these things happen,” making sure it is clear that the “things” are the already-mentioned events.
The kingdom of heaven shall be compared to, except for the use of the future tense, translates the same construction discussed at 13.24. The meaning here is that the Kingdom is like the situation described in the story of the ten girls. Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition connects this parable with the preceding chapter by translating “When the Son of Man comes as Lord, it will happen as in the following story.” Support for this comes from the fact that in the parable only the bridegroom is mentioned (verses 5, 6, 10, 11), never the bride. Although it may be a correct theological judgment that Matthew does identify the consummation of the Kingdom with the coming of the Son of Man, it does not seem proper to make that identity at a place where it is not specifically introduced by Matthew himself. One may prefer to translate “On that day when God comes to establish his rule, the situation will be similar to what is described in the following story.”
The story itself is thought to reflect what was a rather typical wedding scene of first-century Palestine. The wedding guests were entertained in the bride’s home until late evening. There they waited for the bridegroom, whose coming was announced by messengers. Some time after nightfall (in this parable, about midnight) the groom came to claim his bride and to take her to his father’s home, where the wedding ceremony and other festivities took place. Both the coming of the bridegroom to the bride’s home and the procession to his father’s home were accompanied by bright lights, especially by torches. One scholar on the parables notes that it is customary among the Arabs of Palestine for the groom to be late for the wedding. The delay results from the traditional haggling over the gifts due the bride’s relatives, for if such haggling is neglected, this may indicate that the bride is not to be prized very highly.
Maidens (Good News Translation, New English Bible “girls”) translates a Greek noun, the root meaning of which is “virgin” (see New International Version). However, the word may also be used in the broader sense of “unmarried girl,” and a number of translations prefer “bridesmaids” (An American Translation, Phillips, Barclay, Jerusalem Bible) or “young women guests at a wedding.” The advantage to a translation such as this is that the setting of the wedding is established, so that bridegroom is not unexpectedly introduced. Translations often have “young women,” since “girls” may be misunderstood to refer only to very young girls.
Lamps, meaning “oil lamps” (Good News Translation), is the interpretation of the text followed by most translations. See 5.15 for suggestions on translating this term. It is possible, however, that the noun may mean “torches” (that is, sticks wrapped with rags soaked in oil), as it does in John 18.3. These would each burn for only about fifteen minutes, after which fresh oil would need to be poured on them. If “torches” are meant, then verse 1 merely sets the stage, and the girls do not actually light their torches until verse 7. Accordingly, the request of the foolish girls in verse 8 would be, “Let us have some of your oil, because our torches will soon be going out.” Most commentators and translators apparently prefer the meaning expressed by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, as stated above.
As we discussed above, went to meet the bridegroom is a reference to going to the bride’s house to wait for the groom. Translators may say “went to wait with the bride for the bridegroom to arrive.” Further, it may be necessary to indicate it was at night, as in “went one night to wait.”
In place of the bridegroom some early manuscripts (Greek, Latin, and Syriac) have “the bridegroom and the bride.” TC-GNT concedes it is possible that the words “and the bride” were “omitted because they were felt to be incompatible with the widely held view that Christ, the bridegroom, would come to fetch his bride, the church.” However, TC-GNT thinks it is doubtful that ancient scribes would have been “so sensitive to the logic of the allegory.” Moreover, since it was generally customary for the wedding to take place in the home of the bridegroom, it seems more probable that the words “and the bride” were added in order to reflect this situation. The UBS Greek New Testament rates its decision “C,” indicating a considerable degree of doubt regarding which wording may be the original one. Of the modern translations, only Moffatt includes “and the bride” in the text; New Jerusalem Bible and Revised Standard Version follow the shorter text, indicating the alternative possibility in their footnotes.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .