“No, indeed” of Good News Translation (New English Bible, New American Bible, New International Version “No”) represents an attempt to underscore the emphatic nature of the reply.

Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you may imply doubt on the part of the five wise young ladies, but this is not the intention of their remark. It is more clearly phrased in New English Bible: “No … there will never be enough for all of us.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has a somewhat stern rebuke: “Impossible. Then there would not be enough for us or for you.” A better possibility, a less stern reply, is “If we did that, there wouldn’t be enough oil for all of us.”

Go rather to the dealers (Good News Translation “Go to the store”) reflects accurately the Palestinian situation. On a festive occasion such as this, everyone in the village would have been awake, and it would have been possible to purchase oil even at midnight. Dealers can also be expressed as “the people who sell oil.”

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 .