While the Bridegroom tarried, they slumbered and slept:
Give ear, ye prudent, to our Lord’s parable, for it is all light.
All of them slept, both the foolish and the wise —
Which signifies that the good and the wicked die until the resurrection.
The same sleep comes upon the ten of them, which is as much as to say,
That death is the same for all creation without distinction.
One was the sleep of the wise and of the foolish,
For one is death, both of the righteous and of sinners.
The good die, as the wise virgins slept;
And the bad die, as the foolish also slept.
Behold, all creation looketh for the coming of the Bridegroom,
Christ, Who cometh at the end with His angels.
But since He hath tarried, all generations slumber and sleep
With the sleep of death, while looking for when He cometh.
Mar Jacob
Bishop of Serugh
