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Matthew 25 · a question people ask

Does Jesus say what the oil, the lamps or the talents stand for?

In the text

No. Here is what he does say. He ends the story of the ten virgins with a command and a reason: "Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." (25:13). The story of the talents ends with the lord's own words, by the WEB's quotation marks: "For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away." (25:29), and what is to be done with "the unprofitable servant" (25:30). Jesus doesn't say who the virgins, the bridegroom, the servants or the lord stand for, or what the oil, the lamps or the talents are, and these notes don't either. They identify no one in either story, and apply neither to anyone's money, work or abilities today.

The verses

“Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
Matthew 25:13 · World English Bible
“For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Matthew 25:29-30 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Matthew 25

Matthew 25: Those who were ready

The lord says exactly the same words to the servant who gained two talents as to the one who gained five (25:21, 25:23). And at the King's judgment, those on his right and those on his left both answer him with a question that begins, "Lord, when did we see you" (25:37, 25:44).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions