New Testament Greek

Matthew 25:3 reads: Αἵτινες μωραὶ, λαβοῦσαι τὰς λαμπάδας αὐτῶν, οὐκ ἔλαβον μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν ἔλαιον. “Those who were foolish, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with themselves.”

Here we focus on the participial clause λαβοῦσαι τὰς λαμπάδας αὐτῶν—a grammatically elegant way to show sequence and preparation. This action, though correct on the surface, becomes the setup for what was lacking. The participle describes temporal precedence: what they did before failing to take oil.

λαβοῦσαι τὰς λαμπάδας αὐτῶν — “having taken their lamps.”… Learn Koine Greek

In Matthew 25:3, part of Jesus’ parable of the Ten Virgins, the foolish group is introduced with the phrase: Αἵτινες μωραὶ, λαβοῦσαι τὰς λαμπάδας αὐτῶν, οὐκ ἔλαβον μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν ἔλαιον. “Those who were foolish, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them.”

The use of αἵτινες instead of the regular relative αἵ gives the clause a classifying tone, functioning like “such as were foolish.” Grammatically, it creates a restrictive and descriptive clause that labels this subgroup of virgins and signals their defining characteristic: lack of preparation.