Editing Paraclete (section)

== Etymology ==
The English term ''Paraclete'' comes from the [[Koine Greek]] word {{lang|grc|παράκλητος}} ({{Lang|grc-latn|paráklētos}}). A combination of {{Lang|grc-latn|para}} ('beside/alongside') and {{Lang|grc-latn|kalein}} ('to call'),<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/paraclete#etymonline_v_35713 | title=Paraclete &#124; Origin and meaning of paraclete by Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> the word first appears in the [[Bible]] in John 14:16.<ref name=Barton>Kieffer, René, "John," in John Barton and John Muddiman, eds., ''The Oxford Bible Commentary''. Oxford University Press, 2007, 987.</ref> René Kieffer further explains the development of the meaning of this term:

<blockquote>The word {{Lang|grc-latn|parakletos}} is a verbal adjective, often used of one called to help in a lawcourt. In the Jewish tradition the word was transcribed with Hebrew letters and used for angels, prophets, and the just as advocates before God's court. The word also acquired the meaning of 'one who consoles' (cf. Job 16:2, Theodotion's and Aquila's translations; the LXX has the correct word {{Lang|grc-latn|parakletores}}). It is probably wrong to explain the Johannine {{Lang|grc-latn|parakletos}} on the basis of only one religious background. The word is filled with a complex meaning: the Spirit replaces Jesus, is an advocate and a witness, but also consoles the disciples.<ref name=Barton/></blockquote>

=== Latin etymological precedent ===
Lochlan Shelfer suggests that the Greek term ''paraclete'' is a translation of the preceding Latin term {{Lang|la|advocatus}}:
<blockquote>"{{Lang|grc|παράκλητος}} [does not have] any independent meaning of its own, it is in fact a calque for the Latin term {{Lang|la|advocatus|italic=no}} meaning a person of high social standing who speaks on behalf of a defendant in a court of law before a judge. When Greeks came into contact with the Roman Empire [...] the word {{Lang|grc|παράκλητος}} was developed as a precise equivalent to the Latin legal term {{Lang|la|advocatus|italic=no}}. Thus, its significance must be found not only in its very few extant appearances, but also in the specific use of the Latin legal term."<ref name="Shelfer 2009">{{cite journal | last=Shelfer | first=Lochlan | year=2009 | title=The Legal Precision of the Term 'πάράkλητος' | journal=Journal for the Study of the New Testament | publisher=SAGE | volume=32 | issue=2 | issn=0142-064X | doi=10.1177/0142064x09350961 | pages=131–150| s2cid=170306987 }}</ref></blockquote>

This legalistic interpretation of the etymology contradicts the word found in the Septuagint translation of the [[Book of Job]]  (Chapter 16, Verse 2), the meaning of which is specifically "comforter".<ref>https://margmowczko.com/paraclete-in-ancient-literature-and-nt/</ref>