Humorous Quote in Louw and Nida

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Marrow Man

Drunk with Powder
I ran across this discussion of parakletos (the word Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit in John 14:16), variously translated as "Comforter," "Helper," or "Advocate."

The principal difficulty encountered in rendering [parakletos] is the fact that this term covers potentially such a wide area of meaning. The traditional rendering of `Comforter' is especially misleading because it suggests only one very limited aspect of what the Holy Spirit does. A term such as `Helper' is highly generic and can be particularly useful in some languages. In certain instances, for example, the concept of `Helper' is expressed idiomatically, for example, `the one who mothers us' or, as in one language in Central Africa, `the one who falls down beside us,' that is to say, an individual who upon finding a person collapsed along the road, kneels down beside the victim, cares for his needs, and carries him to safety. A rendering based upon the concept of legal advocate seems in most instances to be too restrictive. Furthermore, there may be quite unsatisfactory connotations associated with any word which suggests a lawyer, especially since in so many societies, a lawyer is thought of primarily as one who `bribes the judges' or `can speak two truths' or, as in one language, is `a professional liar.'
 
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