Word studies · Greek · Strong's G3875
παράκλητος · paráklētos · appears 5 times in the New Testament
In one line: The Spirit, called alongside to help you.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—
John 14:16
Paraklētos is one called alongside to help — advocate, counsel, and comforter, the name Jesus gives the Holy Spirit.
Jesus uses paraklētos in the Upper Room for the Spirit He will send — another helper who will teach, remind, testify and convict. First John uses the same word for Jesus Himself, “an advocate with the Father,” so the church has one alongside it on earth and one before God in heaven.
Paraklētos combines para, “alongside,” with a form of kaleō, “to call” — someone summoned to your side. In Greek usage it leaned legal: the friend called in to speak for you in court, which is why “advocate” often renders it.
No single English word covers it, which is why translations differ — Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate all catch part of it. The constant element is not the emotion but the position: someone who has come to stand with you.
Paraklētos (G3875) appears only 5 times in the New Testament — four in John's Gospel and once in 1 John, and nowhere else.
Calling the Spirit “another helper” places Him in continuity with Jesus' own presence rather than as a substitute for it, which is why Jesus can say it is to their advantage that He goes away. The legal overtone matters too: the Christian has counsel in heaven and counsel within.
When you feel unequal to something, ask for the help of the one called alongside rather than only for strength of your own. Name the situation to the Spirit as you would to a friend who came to stand with you.
an intercessor, consoler
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
1 John 2:1Press and hold advocate / helper in any chapter and this study opens on the verse you are reading, with the lexicons, every occurrence and the commentaries beside it. The Bible is free to read.
Scripture quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Strong's definitions are public domain. Counts come from The Pillar's own tagged text.