John 14:16

ᾖ for μένῃ (from John 14:17). Authorities differ as to the position of ᾖ, whether before or after μεθ' ὑμῶν, or after αἰῶνα.

16. κἀγὼ ἐρ. Εγώ is emphatic: ‘you do your part on earth, and I will do Mine in heaven.’ So far as there is a distinction between αἰτεῖν and ἐρωτᾷν, the latter is the less suppliant. It is always used by S. John when Christ speaks of His own prayers to the Father (John 16:26; John 17:9; John 17:15; John 17:20). Martha, less careful than the Evangelist, uses αἰτεῖν of Christ’s prayers (John 11:22). But the distinction must not be pressed as if αἰτεῖν were always used of inferiors (against which Deuteronomy 10:12; Acts 16:29; 1 Peter 3:15 are conclusive), or ἐρωτᾷν always of equals (against which Mark 7:26; Luke 4:38; Luke 7:3; John 4:40; John 4:47; Acts 3:3 are equally conclusive), although the tendency is in that direction. In 1 John 5:16 both words are used. In classical Greek ἐρωτᾷν is never ‘to make a request,’ but always (as in John 1:19; John 1:21; John 1:25; John 9:2; John 9:15; John 9:19; John 9:21; John 9:23, &c.) ‘to ask a question:’ see on John 16:23.

παράκλητον. Advocate. Παράκλητος is used five times in N.T.—four times in this Gospel by Christ of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:7), and once in the First Epistle by S. John of Christ (John 2:1). Our translators render it ‘Comforter’ in the Gospel, and ‘Advocate’ in the Epistle. As to the meaning of the word, usage appears to be decisive. It commonly signifies ‘one who is summoned to the side of another’ to aid him in a court of justice, especially the ‘counsel for the defence’ It is passive, not active; ‘one who is summoned to plead a cause,’ not ‘one who exhorts, or encourages, or comforts.’ A comparison of the simple word (κλητός = ‘called;’ Matthew 20:16; Matthew 22:14; Romans 1:1; Romans 1:6-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2, &c.) and the other compounds, of which only one occurs in the N.T. (ἀνέγκλητος = ‘unaccused;’ 1 Corinthians 1:8; Colossians 1:22, &c.), or a reference to the general rule about adjectives similarly formed from transitive verbs, will shew that παράκλητος must have a passive sense. Moreover, ‘Advocate’ is the sense which the context suggests, wherever the word is used in the Gospel: the idea of pleading, arguing, convincing, instructing, is prominent in every instance. Here the Paraclete is the ‘Spirit of truth,’ whose reasonings fall dead on the ear of the world, and are taken in only by the faithful. In John 14:26 He is to teach and remind them. In John 15:26 He is to bear witness to Christ. In John 16:7-11 He is to convince or convict the world. In short, He is represented as the Advocate, the Counsel, who suggests true reasonings to our minds and true courses for our lives, convicts our adversary the world of wrong, and pleads our cause before God our Father. He may be ‘summoned to our side’ to comfort as well as to plead, and in the Te Deum the Holy Spirit is rightly called ‘the Comforter,’ but that is not the function which is set forth here. To substitute ‘Advocate’ will not only bring out the right meaning in the Gospel, but will bring the language of the Gospel into its true relation to the language of the Epistle. ‘He will give you another Advocate’ acquires fresh meaning when we remember that S. John calls Christ our ‘Advocate;’ the Advocacy of Christ and the Advocacy of the Spirit mutually illustrating one another. At the same time an important coincidence between the Gospel and Epistle is preserved, one of the many which help to prove that both are by one and the same author, and therefore that evidence of the genuineness of the Epistle is also evidence of the genuineness of the Gospel. See Lightfoot, On Revision, pp. 50–56, from which nearly the whole of this note is taken. S. Paul, though he does not use the word, has the doctrine: in Romans 8:27; Romans 8:34 the same language,’ to make intercession for’ (ἐντυγχάνειν ὑπέρ), is used both of the Spirit and of Christ. Philo frequently uses παράκλητος of the high-priest as the advocate and intercessor for the people. He also uses it in the same sense of the Divine Λόγος.

εἰς τ. αἰῶνα. Their present Advocate has come to them and will leave them again; this ‘other Advocate’ will come and never leave them. And in Him, who is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), Christ will be with them also (Matthew 28:20).