EBD: Advocate
SMITH: ADVOCATE
ISBE: ADVOCATE
BAKER: Advocate
BRIDGEWAY: ADVOCATE
Advocate
Advocate [ebd]
(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 (John 14:16; 15:26; 16:7, where the Greek word is rendered "Comforter," q.v.). It is applied to Christ in 1 John 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" (Acts 24:1) was a Roman advocate whom the Jews employed to accuse Paul before Felix.
ADVOCATE [smith]
or Paraclete , one that pleads the cause of another. (1Â 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, (1Â John 2:1)ADVOCATE [isbe]
ADVOCATE - ad'-vo-kat (parakletos): Found in 1 Jn 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 (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.See PARACLETE; COMFORTER; HOLY SPIRIT.
E. Y. Mullins
Advocate [baker]
[N] [E] [S]Translation (consistently in NRSV and JB) of the Greek work parakletos [paravklhto"], which is used five times in the New Testament. Parakletos [paravklhto"] is found in John 14:16, 26; 15:26; and 16:7 in the words of Jesus with reference to the Holy Spirit. In 1 John 2:1 it refers to Christ. Most English translations have "advocate" in 1 John 2:1, although the New International Version renders it as "one who speaks in our defense." To determine the meaning we need to consider the word's etymology, its usage outside the New Testament, and its context in the New Testament passages. By derivation the word means "one called alongside, " but the Gospel emphasizes that the Holy Spirit, as Parakletos [paravklhto"], is "sent" from the Father. In earlier Greek the word signified one called in to a person's defense, a helper in court. In two Greek translations of Job (16:2) it is used for Job's "comforters." Clearly the work of the Holy Spirit is more than either of these: the Spirit is more than a "Counselor" and stronger than a "Comforter" (in our modern sense of the word). The Gospel passages certainly mean that the Holy Spirit is Helper, "another" Parakletos [paravklhto"] (John 14:16), because Jesus had truly been that. The Spirit was promised to remain with Jesus' disciples always (14:16), to "teach" (14:26), to "testify" about Christ and to enable them to testify (15:26), and to "convict the world of guilt" (16:7). Then 1 John 2:1 speaks of Jesus as our continuing advocate with the Father, because we who are sinful find in him the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and thus have our acceptance with the Father.
Francis Foulkes
See also Holy Spirit
Bibliography. J. Behm, TDNT, 5:800-14; G. Braumann, NIDNTT, 1:88-91; L. Morris, The Gospel according to John.
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[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
[E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
[S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
ADVOCATE [bridgeway]
The word sometimes translated in the Bible as ‘advocate’ denoted a person who came and stood beside someone to help in a time of need. People today usually think of an advocate as one who pleads on behalf of another in a court of law, but only occasionally does the Bible use the word in this legal sense (e.g. 1 John 2:1). In most cases it uses the word in the broader sense of a counsellor or helper (e.g. John 14:26).Jesus had been a counsellor or helper to his followers while he was with them, and promised that when he left them and returned to his Father, he would send them another counsellor, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would dwell with Jesus’ followers, giving them the sort of teaching, guidance and help that Jesus had given them (John 14:16-17; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7; cf. Matt 10:19-20; Rom 8:26). (For further details see HOLY SPIRIT.)
While the Holy Spirit is within believers on earth, Jesus Christ appears before the Father as their advocate in heaven. Christians need this advocate because of the difficulties they face in a sinful world. Inevitably they will sometimes sin and as a result need God’s forgiveness. Their sin does not cause them to lose their salvation, but it spoils their fellowship with God. In Jesus they have a heavenly advocate who, when they confess their sin, brings their case before the merciful God and asks his forgiveness. Just as Jesus’ death and resurrection was the basis on which God accepted them as his people in the first place, so it is the basis on which God continues to forgive their failures (Rom 8:34; 1 John 1:9; 2:1-2).
Another picture of the risen Christ’s work on behalf of his people is that of high priesthood. In this picture Jesus’ work is similar to that of an advocate. He is his people’s great high priest, who understands their needs and appears in the presence of God to plead for them (Heb 7:25; 9:24). (For further details see PRIEST, sub-heading ‘The high priesthood of Jesus’.)
