If there is any New Testament word where the meaning varies wildly from sentence to sentence, and where how to translate the word becomes a matter of opinion, it is the verb parakaleō (used 109 times in the New Testament) and its companion nouns paraklētos (5 times) and paraklēsis (29 times). It’s a handy word to have in your Greek vocabulary as an average reader as you read your Bible, so that you can decide for yourself what the word means in a given passage.
The basic meaning of parakaleō is to “call alongside,” the meaning from which all of the other meanings come: to comfort, to encourage, to exhort (give someone a pep talk), and even to beg someone to grant a request. It’s a matter of degree, and as a reader of God’s word, you may choose to give the word a different slant than the Bible version you happen to be using. When translating parakaleō and its related nouns, there may be no single “correct” way to translate them, unless if we were to ask the original author or speaker what they had in mind.
One intriguing example where paraklēsis (“comfort”) is used is where Luke translates the name Barnabas. Luke tells us that the Aramaic nickname Bar-Nebīyya (literally “Son of Prophecy”) means “Son of Encouragement” or “Son of Exhortation.” (Acts 4:36) Already, we have a word that can mean either option. “Exhortation” fits better with the original Aramaic meaning; a prophet is one who exhorts. But the meaning “encouragement” could equally apply in the case of the Barnabas we know from the book of Acts, who comes alongside Saul to help him when the early church is afraid to trust or welcome a former killer of Christians, and who later speaks up for John Mark when Paul does not wish to take him as a missionary partner.
As early Latin-speaking Christians from Tertullian to Augustine have pointed out, the word paraklētos (often rendered “comforter”) is even sometimes used to mean “defense attorney” (Latin advocatus), one who is “called alongside” to help a defendant in court. Such appears to be the meaning in 1 John 2:1, where even the King James Version reads, “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One.” And John writes in the next verse that Christ is not only our defense attorney, but the atoning sacrifice for our sins, as well as for the sins of the entire world.
The term Paraklētos is best known as one of Jesus’s titles for the Holy Spirit, “the Comforter,” whom Jesus calls by that name in John 14:16, 14:26, 15:26, and 16:7. The Holy Spirit hence becomes the One who is called alongside of us to comfort and help us in Jesus’s place.
Many times parakaleō and paraklēsis clearly mean “comfort.” Paul proclaims in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 that God is “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our affliction,” so that we can comfort others. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And Paul tells the Thessalonians to “comfort one another with these words” about the promised resurrection of their loved ones who have recently died (1 Thessalonians 4:18).
Some verses seem to call for more than comfort; they call for encouragement. Hebrews 10:25 calls for believers “not to forsake meeting together, as is the habit of some, but to encourage each other.” Paul sends Tychicus to encourage the hearts of his readers (Ephesians 6:22, Colossians 4:8).
Some verses call for a stronger form of encouragement: they call for exhortation. Paul advises Timothy not to rebuke an older man, but to “exhort him like a father” (1 Timothy 5:1). The writer of Hebrews says, “I beseech / appeal (parakaleō) to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation (paraklēsis).” Quite a few times both Paul and Peter “urge” or “exhort” their readers, such as in Romans 12:1: “I beseech / appeal to you therefore, brethren…to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,” or Titus 2:6: “Likewise urge the younger men to control themselves.” (See also 1 Thessalonians 5:14, 1 Timothy 1:3, 2:2, and 6:2, and 1 Peter 2:11 and 5:1, among others.)
The highest degree of urgency for parakaleō is the sense of imploring or begging. The servant “begged” his fellow servant to forgive the debt he owed (Matthew 18:29). The man with the legion of demons “begged” Jesus to cast them into the swine (Mark 5:12). Paul “implores” Euōdia and Syntychē to agree in the Lord (Philippians 4:2). The disciples at Lydda “beg” Peter to come when Dorcas dies (Acts 9:38). Likewise, the Jews “beg” Jesus to heal the centurion’s servant (Luke 7:4). And Paul writes to the Corinthians, “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
But sometimes it’s hard to tell how intensely to translate parakaleō. Does Peter “exhort” or “beg” the crowd at Pentecost to “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” (Acts 2:40)? Your guess is as good as mine. In the Prodigal Son parable, does the father “entreat” or “beg” the older brother to come to the celebration (Luke 15:28)? How urgent are Paul’s and Peter’s appeals to their readers? It’s hard to tell without asking them. And did Jesus have to beg, or merely encourage, God when he asks, "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once provide me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:52)
Such a spectrum of nuances for this verb and its related nouns: from “comfort,” to “encourage,” to “exhort,” to “beg,” with options like “appeal,” “beseech,” “urge,” and “entreat”! The beauty of it is that you can decide for yourself as you read which translation is best, using the context of the verse, and the translation options I have given you. I “encourage” you to use what you now know about this set of words to give deeper understanding to your reading. No need to “beg” you or “beseech” you! And take “comfort” in the fact that in cases like parakaleō, there’s more than one “correct” way to read the word!
