Article January 21, 1939 Issue

Bible Notes

"We have an advocate with the Father" (I John 2:1)—It is of interest to note that the word "parkletos," which is here rendered "advocate," is translated "Comforter" in John 14:16 and elsewhere. "Parakletos" meant originally "one called to one's side;" and since a person might be summoned to one's side for purposes of comfort, defense, or aid, it can be translated "comforter," "advocate," or simply "helper" (cf. the Margin of the Revised Version).

"He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him" (I John 2:10)—The Greek word "skandalon," here rendered "occasion of stumbling," meant originally a stick used for setting a trap, or even the trap itself, and came to be employed in the sense of a "stumbling block"; "i.e., any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall" (cf. Thayer: Greek Lexicon, p. 577). It may also be observed that "skandalon" is the root of our modern word "scandal." In Greek, the words rendered "in him" are ambiguous, for they can also mean "in it," thus referring to the "light" instead of to him "that loveth his brother." This explains Moffatt's rendering: "He who loves his brother remains in the light—and in the light there is no pitfall."

"We beseech you ... that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more" (I Thess. 4:1)—As often in the New Testament, the Greek verb literally translated "walk" in this passage, and also in I John 2:6, is used figuratively in the sense of "live" or "conduct oneself" (compare Thayer: op. cit., and also Moffatt and Weymouth); while the words which are translated "abound more and more" may also be rendered "excel still more" or "increase in excellence" (Thayer: op. cit., p. 505). Goodspeed's translation is: "We ask ... you ... to live as you learned from us that you must live, to please God—as indeed you are doing, only do it more and more."