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Mat 25:3. Ἔλαιον, oil) i.e. except that with which the lamps were then burning: see latter part of Mat 25:8. The lamp burning is faith; the lamp with oil beside is abundant faith.[1080]
[1080] Elsewhere he suggests another interpretation, viz.: “In a Burning Lamp there is Fire and Oil. By the Fire is here signified the supernatural, heavenly, fiery Spirit-power (Geisteskraft) which is bestowed upon the soul without its co-operation (ohne ihr Zuthun): see 2Pe 1:3-4; and by the Oil, holy Assiduity (Fleiss) on the part of man: see 2Pe 1:5. And of this, man should have not only enough for the exigencies of the present time, but also an abundant supply, see 2Pe 1:8 [sc. “if these things be in you and abound”], for all future circumstances: so does the entrance to the Wedding-House become sure to him, and abundant besides, see 2Pe 1:11 [sc. “an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly”]. The foolish virgins did not even remain resting only on their own unassisted nature: they too had something of grace and of the Spirit. Nowhere is it more clearly (deutlicher) written than here how far a soul can advance in good, and yet fall through (durchfallen): see Mat 25:8.”-B. G. V. in loc.