STRONGS G3875:
παράκλητος,
παρακλητου,
ὁ (
παρακαλέω), properly,
summoned, called to one's side, especially called to one's aid; hence,
1. "one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant; an advocate":
Demosthenes, p. 341, 11; (
Diogenes Laërtius 4, 50, cf.
Dio Cassius, 46, 20.
2. universally,
one who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor:
Philo, de mund. opif. § 59; de Josepho § 40; in Flaccum §§ 3 and 4; so of Christ, in his exaltation at God's right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins,
1 John 2:1 (in the same sense, of the divine Logos in
Philo, vita Moys. iii. § 14).
3. in the widest sense,
a helper, succorer, aider, assistant; so of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of gospel truth, and to give them the divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom:
John 14:16,
26;
John 15:26;
John 16:7, cf.
Matthew 10:19;
Mark 13:11;
Luke 12:11f (
Philo de mund. opif. § 6 at the beginning says that God in creating the world had no need of a
παράκλητος, an adviser, counsellor, helper. The Targums and Talmud borrow the Greek words
פְּרַקְלִיט and
פְּרַקְלִיטָא and use them of any intercessor, defender, or advocate; cf. Baxtorf, Lex. Talm., p. 1843 ((edited by Fischer, p. 916)); so Targ. on
Job 33:23 for
מֵלִיץ מַלְאָך, i. e. an angel that pleads man's cause with God; (cf.
πλουσίων παρακλητοι in '
Teaching' etc. 5 [ET] under the end; the Epistle of Barnabas 20, 2 [ET]; Apostolic Constitutions 7, 18)). Cf. Knapp, Scripta varii Argumenti, p. 124ff; Düsterdieck on
1 John 2:1, p. 147ff; (Watkins, Excursus
G, in Ellicott's N. T. Commentary for English Readers; Westcott in the
Speaker's commentary Additional Note on
John 14:16; Schaff in Lange ibid.).
THAYER’S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.
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BLB Scripture Index of Thayer's