You Know Neither the Day nor the Hour

In Matthew 25:01-13, Jesus creates a poem about the second coming of the Messiah. Several of the words in the passage are puns for the Hebrew word “Messiah” (משיח) - “Heaven” (שמים), “Five” (חמשה), “Oil” (שמן), “Heard” (נשמע). In case you ever wondered why Jesus chose the number five in this passage instead of two, three, or four - the Hebrew word for “Five” {“Five” (חמשה)} is part of the wordplays in the poem. Below are the wordplay groups in the poem:

“Kingdom” (מלכות)
“Virgins” (בתולות)
“Wise” (וחכמות)
“Foolish” (כסילות)
“Buy” (לקנות)
“Preparedness” (והמוכנות)

“Heaven” (שמים)
“Five” (חמשה)
“Oil” (שמן)
“Heard” (נשמע)

“Delayed” (ויתמהמה)
“Lingered” (נתמהמהו)

“Gate” (השער)
“Hour” (והשעה)

J. Clontz – Editor of The Comprehensive New Testament