Dictionaries :: Advocate

Advocate:

(Gr. parakletos), one who pleads another's cause, who helps another by defending or comforting him. It is a name given by Christ three times to the Holy Ghost (Jhn 14:16; 15:26; 16:7, where the Greek word is rendered "Comforter," q.v.). It is applied to Christ in 1Jo 2:1, where the same Greek word is rendered "Advocate," the rendering which it should have in all the places where it occurs. Tertullus "the orator" (Act 24:1) was a Roman advocate whom the Jews employed to accuse Paul before Felix.

Advocate:

ad'-vo-kat (parakletos): Found in 1Joh 2:1, "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." The Greek word has several shades of meaning:

(1) a legal advocate;

(2) an intercessor,

(3) a helper generally.

In the passage before us the first and second meanings are included. Christ in heaven intercedes for Christians who sin upon earth. The next verse declares that He is the "propitiation for our sins" and it is His propitiatory work which lies at the basis of His intercession. The margins of the Revised Version (British and American) and the American Standard Revised Version give as alternative readings Comforter, Helper, Greek Paraclete. Beyond doubt however, "advocate" is the correct translation in the passage in the epistle. The same Greek word also occurs in the Gospel of John (Joh 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7) referring not to Christ but to the Holy Spirit, to whom Christ refers as "another comforter" whom He will send from the Father. In the Gospel various functions are ascribed to the Spirit in relation to believers and unbelievers. The word in the Gospel is inadequately translated "Comforter." The Spirit according to these passages, is more than Comforter and more than Advocate.

Written by E. Y. Mullins

See PARACLETE

See COMFORTER

See HOLY SPIRIT

Advocate: Tertullus

Act 24:1-9

Advocate: Figurative

1Jo 2:1

Advocate:

For ADVOCATE see COMFORTER

Advocate:

or Paraclete, one that pleads the cause of another (1 John 2:1). Used by Christ (John 14:16; 15:26; 16:7) to describe the office and work of the Holy Spirit, and translated Comforter, i.e. (see margin of Revised Version). Advocate, Helper, Intercessor. This use of the word is derived from the fact that the Jews, being largely ignorant of the Roman law and the Roman language, had to employ Roman advocates in their trials before Roman courts. Applied to Christ in 1 John 2:1.