Quick Definition
παράκλητος, ου, ὁ n.m. an advocate, comforter, helper, Paraclete
Strong's Definition
an intercessor, consoler
KJV Usage: advocate, comforter
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, m. | -ου | καλέω
12.19 · Supernatural Beings and Powers · Supernatural Beings
Helper, Encourager, Mediator (a title for the Holy Spirit) one who helps, by consoling, encouraging, or mediating on behalf of The principal difficulty encountered in rendering παράκλητος is the fact that this term covers potentially such a wide area of meaning. The traditional rendering of ‘Comforter’ is especially misleading because it suggests only one very limited aspect of what the Holy Spirit does. A term such as ‘Helper’ is highly generic and can be particularly useful in some languages. In certain instances, for example, the concept of ‘Helper’ is expressed idiomatically, for example, ‘the one who mothers us’ or, as in one language in Central Africa, ‘the one who falls down beside us,’ that is to say, an individual who upon finding a person collapsed along the road, kneels down beside the victim, cares for his needs, and carries him to safety.
A rendering based upon the concept of legal advocate seems in most instances to be too restrictive. Furthermore, there may be quite unsatisfactory connotations associated with any word which suggests a lawyer, especially since in so many societies, a lawyer is thought of primarily as one who ‘bribes the judges’ or ‘can speak two truths’ or, as in one language, is ‘a professional liar.’ See also παράκλητος 35.16 and especially its footnote.
35.16 · Help, Care For · Help
helper (derivative of παρακαλέω ‘to call upon to provide help,’ not occurring in this specific sense in the NT) one who may be called upon to provide help or assistance
1 The meaning of παράκλητος overlaps considerably with other domains. It certainly involves psychological factors of encouragement and therefore may very well be treated in Domain 25 Attitudes and Emotions. There is also a sense in which παράκλητος inevitably involves some communication, and therefore it may fittingly be analyzed in Domain 33 Communication. The role of intercession has certain legal implications, and accordingly, παράκλητος is justifiably related to legal procedures in Domain 56 Courts and Legal Procedures. It is very rare indeed that any one term in a receptor language will have all of the distinctive features of meaning possessed by παράκλητος, especially in reference to the role of the Holy Spirit (see 12.19).
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
παρά-κλητος, -ου, 6, (παρακαλέω), prop. summoned, called to one’s side, esp. called to one’s aid; hence 1. one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defence, legal assistant; an advocate: Dem. p. 341, 11; Diog. Laért. 4, 50, cf. Dio Cass. 46, 20. 2: univ. one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor: Philo, de mund. opif. §59; de Josepho $40; in Flaccum 888 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 Jn. ii. 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: Jn. xiv. 16, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 7, cf. Mt. x. 19sq.; ΜΚ. xiii. 11; Lk. xii. 11 sq. (Philo de mund. opif. § 6 init. 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 oropra and RDOUPIB and use them of any intercessor, defender, or advocate; cf. Buztorf, Lex. Talm. p. 1843 [(ed. Fischer p. 916) ]; so Targ. on Job xxxiii. 23 for 772 ἼΝ 72, i. 6. an angel that pleads man’s cause with God; [ef. πλουσίων παράκλητοι in ‘Teaching’ ete. 5 sub fin.; Barn. ep. 20, 2; Constitt. apost. 7,18]). Cf. Knapp, Scripta varii Argumenti, p. 124 sqq.; Diisterdieck on 1 Jn. ii. 1, p. 147 sq. ; [ Watkins, Excursus G, in Ellicott’s N. T. Com. for Eng. Readers; Westcott in the “Speaker’s Com.” Additional Note on Jn. xiv. 16; Schaff in Lange ibid. ].
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
παράκλητος paraklētos 5x
one called or sent for to assist another; an advocate, one who pleads the cause of another, 1 Jn. 2:1; genr. one present to render various beneficial service, and thus the Paraclete, whose influence and operation were to compensate for the departure of Christ himself, Jn. 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
** παρά-κλητος, -ον
(< παρακαλέω), [in Aq., Th.: Jb 16:2*;]
called to one's aid in a judicial cause (Dion. Cass.); hence, most freq. as subst., ὁ π., an advocate, pleader, intercessor (Dem., al.; so in Rabbinic lit., פְּרַקְלִיטָא), "a friend of the accused person, called to speak to his character, or otherwise enlist sympathy in his favour" (Field, Notes, 102). In NT, specif., ὁ π., of Christ, I Jo 2:1 (v. ICC, Jo. Epp., 23 ff.);
of the Holy Spirit (AV, comforter; but v. opp. c.), Jo 14:16, 26 15:26 16:7 (cf. also Abbott, Essays, 86, 97; Deiss., LAE, 339 f.; MM, xviii; Westc., Jo., ii, 188 ff.).
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
παράκλητος, orig. ‘Sone called in” to support, hence ‘‘ advocate,” ““pleader,’’ ‘“a friend of the accused person, called to speak to his character, or otherwise enlist the sympathy of the judges” (Field ores, p. 102). For the history of the word, which in the NT is confined to the Johannine writings, though the idea is present in Paul (Rom $24), see the excellent summary by Hastings in D.A, iii. p. 665 ff.: cf. Lightfoot On a Fresh Reviston® p. 56ff., Zahn Jntrod. i. ? , παρακολουθεω Ρ- 64f., and Bauer 7ολ. p. 137 ff. (in HZNT7). Useful reff. to the work of the "" advocate ” in the Hellenistic world will be found in Deissmann ZAZ, p. 340, where stress is rightly laid on the borrowing of the word in Heb. and Aramaic as evidence of its popular use. The word is found in a very illiterate letter of ii/a.p., BGU II. 6017 εὖ οὖν ποιήσῃς γράψον μοι περὶ τῆς οἰκίας, ὅτι τι ἔπραξας, καὶ τὸν ἀραβῶνα τοῦ Σαραπίωνος πάρακλος (4. παράκλητος) δέδωκα αὐτῷ, καὶ γράψον μοι περὶ τῆς ἀπαί -- οὐγραφῆς. In the previous sentence the writer says she has deposited in Demeter’s temple καλαμεσιτὰ ἀσπί-- φ)αλίσματα (““ bonds written with a pen’’?). Does she mean παρακληθεῖσα by her παράκλ(ητ)ος, i.e. ‘on being summoned ” ? The negative of the verbal occurs in OG/S 248% (B.c. 175-161) ‘‘that the Demos (of Athens) may . . . show that it honours those who benefit itself and its friends ἀπαρακλήτους; i.e. “uninvited.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
παράκλητος (paraklētos) — counsellor. παρά-κλητος, ον, called to one's aid, in a court of justice: as substantive, legal assistant, advocate, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
2. summoned, δοῦλοι [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
II. intercessor, [NT+1st c.AD+], of the Holy Spirit, [NT]