the comforter
the spirit of truth
At the very close of Yeshua's (Jesus') earthly ministry, indeed during the final hours which He shared with His closest adherents, He repeatedly promised them that after His departure, a Comforter would be given them. We must therefore expect that whatever its function, this Comforter was to become a vitally important and crucially significant aspect of their lives and ministries. The four separate occasions of this promised gift are given below.
- JOHN 14:14-16 If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
- JOHN 14:25-26 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
- JOHN 15:26-27 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
- JOHN 16:7-11 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
The apostles were naturally going to be greatly distressed by the upcoming events (JOHN 14:27; 16:6), but it is curious that there is no word here that this Comforter was to comfort. Yeshua lays out for His disciples what this Comforter was to do, but not a hint that its purpose was for their comfort.
As such, many other Bible versions suggest that this Comforter was really an Advocate, which is defined as a defender or intercessor, such as a lawyer. The Revised Version renders it as advocate, with helper in the margin. The Lexham English Bible, the Jerusalem Bible, the New English Bible as well as many Catholic versions also have advocate here, and yet as with a Comforter, there is little idea of an Advocate in these passages.
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The Greek word from which Comforter or Advocate was rendered is parakletos, and aside from the four occasions in John's gospel account, the only other occurrence of the word in the Christian scriptures (the New Testament) is in one of John's letters.
- 1 JOHN 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate [parakletos] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Here we are told by most Commentators that Yeshua, as this parakletos, was to be a sort of defense attorney, presenting and defending the Christian's case against some unnamed accuser. Howbeit, in his commentary on this passage, A. E. Knoch has this important note.
- The rendering "Advocate", in the sense of an attorney before a judge, is not at all in keeping with the character God assumes here. An advocate does not practice before a Father. The Revisers recognized this, and put "Comforter", "Helper", and "Paraclete" in their margin as alternatives. It is rendered "Comforter" four times in John's evangel. The verb covers the territory which we assign to the two words "entreat" and "console". A paraclete is either an entreater or a consoler. The latter hardly seems possible in connection with sin. We have made it an Entreater in this passage and a Consoler in John's evangel.
Knoch recognized that parakletos had two different senses in its meaning, Entreater and Consoler. As such, in his Concordant Version he selected Entreater instead of Advocate in 1 JOHN, because he rightly deduced that a believer wouldn't need a defense attorney when standing before his Heavenly Father. Howbeit, he chose to retain Consoler for the occurrences in John's gospel.
But one must consider if we have not missed or overlooked an important aspect of what this Comforter, this parakletos, was to be given for, and perhaps Comforter, Consoler or even Advocate might not be the idea which scripture was intending to convey? There is no suggestion in these passages about it consoling, or sympathizing with them. There is not a hint that it was to be for their defense. Instead it was to teach them, and to bring to their remembrance that which they had already been taught. It was to testify and bear witness and reprove the world of sin, but nothing is specifically said about comforting, or soothing them, giving them solace or even defending them.
Nevertheless, many commentators understand the word parakletos to mean advocate because evidently that was its meaning in Classical Greek, howbeit "very rarely", as we are told by Edwyn Hoskyns in his work The Fourth Gospel.
- 3. It is so used, though very rarely, in Classical Greek, with the particular meaning of an advocate (cf. advocatus) in a Law Court. It therefore tends to acquire the secondary, active meaning of one who intercedes for him whom he is called to help. [page 466]
On the next page of his commentary, Mr. Hoskyns noted that a form of this word was used in the LXX of JOB 16:2 for Job's miserable comforters. As such, we have a scriptural link between the Comforter promised by Yeshua in John's gospel account and the miserable comforters spoken of in the book of JOB.
We might ask ourselves then, what were the motives and intentions of these three men which Job called his miserable comforters? Were they there to console or defend him, or to soothe him in his troubles? No, they generally endeavored to bring him back from his calamities, to return him from his affliction so as to be right again with his Maker.
They had thought that in some way he had evidently transgressed against GOD and so they argued to get him to acknowledge his error, to repent of his sin, and to turn back to the right path. Even though Job's appearance so shook them that they initially sat silent with him for seven days (JOB 2:11-13), there is little or no actual comfort in their words and motives thereafter, neither were they defending him in any way.
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As such, this usage in JOB may indeed hold for us a key in understanding the word's usage in John's gospel and epistle. It may be more precise to understand a parakletos as returning one to the right way, rather than soothing or defending or even comforting one in his sorrows. Perhaps as Norman Snaith suggested, it may have had more to do with comforting one out of sorrow, rather than comforting one in sorrow (Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament, page 181).
This would be especially important to the close associates of the Lord, for in a few short hours they were indeed going to be overcome by intense grief at the apparent loss of their Master. Something powerful was going to be needed to bring them out of the bewilderment and turmoil they were soon to find themselves overwhelmed by. Something was going to be required to recover them from their grief and distress, and return them back to their role and function as the Lord's chosen apostles.
Thus, if we apply from JOB this sense of the word parakletos, someone called to one's side so as to entreat, exhort, instruct, admonish or refresh, then we have a meaning which satisfies each of its occurrences in the Gospel account of John, as well as in his epistle. Indeed, the parakletos was to be a succorer, aider or assistant for the apostles, not simply a comforter, much less an advocate of some kind.
Another familiar usage of this word in the LXX of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) is in the fourth verse of the twenty third psalm, where it was written, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me". In this beautiful literary masterpiece, the writer has the sheep praising their shepherd for his guidance and their renewal.
- PSALM 23:1-4 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
- He leadeth me beside the still waters.
- He restoreth my soul:
- He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
- Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
- Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
But one might reasonably wonder how a shepherd's rod and staff could be thought of as a comfort to his sheep? The rod was generally used as a weapon for protection or an instrument of punishment, and there is no reason for us to suppose that the staff in any way soothed or comforted the sheep. Albert Barnes, in his commentary on this psalm has the following note on this rod and staff.
- It may not be easy to mark the difference between these two words; but they would seem probably to refer, the latter to the staff which the shepherd used in walking, the former to the crook which a shepherd used for guiding his flock. The image is that of a shepherd in attendance on his flock, with a staff on which he leans with one hand; in the other hand the crook or rod which was the symbol of his office. Either of these also might be used to guard the flock, or to drive off the enemies of the flock. The crook is said (see Rosenmuller, in loc.) to have been used to seize the legs of the sheep or goats when they were disposed to run away, and thus to keep them with the flock.
- "The shepherd invariably carries a rod or staff with him when he goes forth to feed his flock. It is often bent or hooked at one end, which gave rise to the shepherd's crook in the hand of the Christian bishop. With this staff he rules and guides the flock to their green pastures, and defends them from their enemies. With it also he corrects them when disobedient, and brings them back when wandering." (The Land and the Book, vol. i., p. 305.)
So, even though the shepherd might have had occasion to defend them as they walked through the valley of the shadow of death, these sheep were not so much comforted by the rod and staff. More so, they were guided to green pastures and still waters; they were corrected and returned to the right way. Indeed, their soul was restored.
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The dictionary defines comfort as, "to soothe in time of grief or fear; to console", and Yeshua's apostles may very well have desired this consoling after their Lord's departure, but that was not at all what He told them that this parakletos was to be given for. Rather, it was to teach, to instruct and remind, to convict and testify.
We should note that the KJV of the gospel account has Yeshua promising His disciples that He would not leave them comfortless (JOHN 14:18), but the Greek word from which comfortless was rendered is orphanos, which is not even related to parakletos. The word has to do with being orphaned, as many modern versions so render it (RSV, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible). The New Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon defines orphanos as "bereft of teacher, guide, guardian", which is exactly what Yeshua was endeavoring to protect them from being. When after He departed, He wanted to be sure that they would have a teacher or succorer to guide them back to the vital purpose of their lives and ministries (JOHN 15:1-10).
These five usages of parakletos by the apostle John have all been with the masculine gender, but important light is also shed on our subject with the occurrences of the word with the feminine gender, paraklesis. It is thus usually rendered as comfort, consolation or exhortation, but we should note that in the nearly thirty occurrences of it in the Christian scriptures, it never has the idea of a defense attorney or advocate.
- ROMANS 15:4-5 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort [paraklesis] of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation [paraklesis] grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
One might question, were these things written aforetime, which Paul said were for their learning, so that they might be soothed or consoled or comforted; or were they more for the believer's encouragement and exhortation? Comfort doesn't necessarily build within us hope, but being beseeched and encouraged and exhorted surely does.
Hope must be based upon something true and factual, not on some imagined feeling or emotion. It must be grounded upon that which was spoken (ROMANS 4:18). Its foundation must be upon a promise (TITUS 1:2). Hope is not based upon what we think or suppose, but rather it is based upon what we know to be true (EPHESIANS 1:18).
The farmer plows and threshes in the hope of a return upon his labor because his experience causes him to expect those results (1 CORINTHIANS 9:10). We hope and expect that the brakes will work on our car because we have that well grounded expectation. Likewise, we hope to be resurrected sometime after our death because we have seen the evidence that Yeshua was resurrected after His death (ACTS 22:8; 24:14-15 COLOSSIANS 1:5 1THESSALONIANS 4:13-14 TITUS 2:13; 3:7 1PETER 1:21). Thus, hope is matured and sustained by evidence and trust, which is the direct effect of the spirit of truth exhorting and encouraging us.
We should note that when Paul wrote elsewhere that hope was not something which can be seen (ROMANS 8:24), he was not meaning that hope was something imagined, but rather that this hope was something which had not yet been realized. It was the confidence and expectation (PHILIPPIANS 1:20) of a future reality.
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As such, through both the scriptures and life's experiences we have thus been taught and have learned to trust GOD's promises, and so we grow to have confidence in their fulfillment. The spirit of truth has first exhorted us to obedience, but if and when we have failed in that respect, it has also endeavored to restore us to the right path.
- HEBREWS 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation [paraklesis] which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Thus, this Greek word paraklesis is often rendered by translators as exhortation, which is a suitable definition, for this spirit of truth was going to exhort the disciples back to the right way. The paraklesis was to speak, teach and exhort, not simply to comfort. Nor was it ever used by the Biblical writers with the sense of being for protection or defense.
And even further, it was to convict the world of its sin.
- 1 CORINTHIANS 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation [paraklesis], and comfort [paramythia].
Exhorting one to a more worthy endeavor, or more righteous path was to be an apt function of this spirit of truth. Being an advocate or defending one from an accuser or antagonist was never mentioned in the Bible as being one of its functions or purposes.
The verb form of this word, parakaleo, is usually rendered as beseeching, or exhorting, which opens up for us an even clearer understanding of what this Comforter was to do.
- MATTHEW 8:5-6 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching [parakaleo] him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Clearly, this centurion was not offering any comfort or consolation to Yeshua, but was rather endeavoring to have His ear long enough to make his supplication. He had something important to request and so beseeched the Lord to hear him out. Thus it was also to be with the spirit of truth. It was to beseech and implore the disciples and their listeners to hear its reproof or message, thus encouraging them to act in a godly manner.
- ACTS 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort [parakaleo], saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
This is an excellent example of the spirit of truth, through Peter, convicting the world of sin. He had proclaimed in this address that Yeshua had been shown to be approved by GOD, by miracles and wonders and signs; yet even so, with their wicked hands they still had Him crucified (2:22-23). But GOD raised Him from among the dead and made Him, whom they had crucified, both Lord and Christ (2:36). When they heard this, the record states that they were cut to the heart (RSV ACTS 2:37).
This spirit of truth was guiding and reminding Peter of that which his Lord had taught, and he in turn was testifying to the multitude these same truths.
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- ACTS 15:32 And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted [parakaleo] the brethren with many words, and confirmed them.
These words of the prophets were no doubt words of truth from the parakletos. The brethren were being exhorted to grow in this new grace and not remain shackled to the old religion of Judaism. There is little thought of soothing, comforting or easing their suffering here. It had more to do with encouraging them on to a more worthy endeavor.
In the over one hundred occurrences of this verb parakaleo in the Christian scriptures, it is rendered with both the sense of comfort as well as beseech, but never for defense. As with paraklesis, not once is there any intimation that the writer had the function of an advocate on his mind when he wrote. But as to whether it was intended to imply comfort or beseech, only the context in which the writer used it can be trusted to give us the correct meaning. A good example is here in Paul's letter to the Corinthians.
- 1 CORINTHIANS 14:31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted [parakaleo].
Were the Corinthian believers to be comforted and soothed by these words of prophesy, or were they rather to be encouraged and exhorted to some higher calling? In this fourteenth chapter Paul went into great detail concerning the benefit and use of spiritual things, but his main and repeated theme was their edification (verses 3-5, 12, 17, 26). He only once (14:3) mentioned the need for their comfort, but rather dealt in great length with their learning and with their understanding. The learning which the apostle expected them to receive might naturally have to do with the exhortation from the spirit of truth, but not so much a comforting or consoling of their sorrow.
- EPHESIANS 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech [parakaleo] you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
This is precisely the suggested meaning of parakaleo in this Study. Paul, through the spirit of truth was endeavoring to persuade them to walk worthy of their calling. When we think of this parakletos as soothing and easing our discomforts in some way, or defending us from some unnamed accuser, we miss out on its true and vital purpose. It was to motivate and encourage and renew, not just to sympathize or defend.
- 1 THESSALONIANS 3:2 And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort [parakaleo] you concerning your faith:
Again, in a like vein Paul desired and longed to know that they remained established in the faith, and if not, then have his fellow laborer to so establish them. They were probably not going to be established by being rocked to sleep on grandma's lap, or being drawn up to their mother's breast. The infant might find comfort there, but these new believers were to be established by being guided and recovered to the faith by the spirit of truth.
- TITUS 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort [parakaleo] and to convince [reprove] the gainsayers.
This word rendered convince in the KJV is the exact same word used in JOHN 16:8 concerning the Comforter reproving the world of sin. Only by holding fast to faithful words, the words of sound doctrine, can the believer expect to exhort and confute those "unruly and vain talkers and deceivers" (TITUS 1:10). Sound doctrine, from the spirit of truth is what they needed, not so much comfort or consoling.
- 1 PETER 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech [parakaleo] you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
Peter again was writing words to exhort his readers on to a more worthy endeavor. He was endeavoring to encourage them, as newborn babes, as living stones called out of darkness, to no longer be enslaved to the lusts of the flesh, but rather to desire the word of GOD (1:23) that they may grow thereby. Indeed, he specifically stated that they had purified their souls by obeying the truth through the spirit (1:22), no doubt the spirit of truth, the parakletos. It was all about hearing and obeying the words of truth, not just about being soothed or consoled.
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In this Study we see again how Church tradition has misguided and misdirected us in our understanding of the things of GOD. Yeshua's promise of this parakletos had little or nothing to do with their comfort or defense, but rather to recover them out of their stupor and send them forward in their spiritual conquests. The scriptures give clear instruction but Church theology too often glosses over and veils that truth from us.
The likely reason that many commentators found justification in rendering parakletos as advocate, was because of something which Paul wrote in ROMANS.
- ROMANS 8:26-27, 34 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. . . .Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Many commentators erroneously suppose that the idea of a parakletos being a defense attorney was originally derived from what Paul wrote here of them being intercessors. According to their creed, as intercessor, the spirit was sort of standing in the gap between the believer and Satan. When the great accuser laid the believer's sins before GOD, then the spirit, or Yeshua (as was supposed to be the case in 1 JOHN 2:1), both acting as advocates or intercessors, made our defense for us. The explanation and proclamation of this doctrine is attempted in a number of commentaries and Bible dictionaries, howbeit with little or no true scriptural support.
- Christians need an Advocate because of the ADVERSARY, the devil or Satan, who accuses us before God (1 Pet. 5:8; Rev. 12:10). If Satan is the "prosecuting attorney", Christ and the Holy Spirit are the legal advocates, the "defense attorneys," who help, defend, counsel, and comfort us; they plead the Christian's case before God day and night, providing a continuing remedy for sin. [Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary]
Nevertheless, nothing was said by Yeshua concerning this parakletos interceding on the believer's behalf. Nor does John in his epistle suggest anything of the sort. In 1 JOHN 2:2 and 4:10 he wrote of Yeshua being the propitiation (appeasement) for our sins, but that is a far cry different than being a defense attorney. He also wrote that Yeshua's blood cleanses the believer (1:7), as well as the believer's acknowledgment of his own sin (1:9), but not a word about an advocate defending him in any manner.
In this same epistle John also instructed his readers to keep and obey Yeshua's commands, and in this way they would be perfected (2:5), and further that he who does the will of GOD abides forever (2:17), but nothing is said about the need for an advocate. He further noted that he who does righteously is therefore righteous (3:7) and that our prayers are answered as we keep GOD's commandments (3:22). But again, no suggestion about needing a defense attorney.
John further explained that it was our faith which overcame (5:4), but no hint was given that we were going to be cleared of false accusations by some heavenly court proceeding. The entire epistle is an exhortation to obedience, not an assurance that the believer shall somehow be defended and pronounced innocent of slanderous accusations.
This especially important gift which Yeshua had promised to His most intimate and closest followers, had little to do with their comfort or defense, but had everything to do with encouraging and beseeching, exhorting and returning them to the truth which they had heard and learned.
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