Wise and foolish virgins; oil

Meaning

The First Response invokes the five foolish who ask the five wise for oil as a corrective to seekers expecting ready treasure from the fraternity. The point is that the desired benefit must be acquired through each person’s diligence and zeal, through and in God, rather than supplied for worldly indulgence on demand. The English makes the virgins explicit, while the printed phrases identify the two groups by wisdom and folly. Oil is the object within the scriptural example, not an identified chemical ingredient of the response’s tincture. The passage gives no independent retelling of the whole parable.