I wonder which feels better? To have a friend comfort me or having a friend stand with me? Is there a difference? In the verse below, Jesus teaches about mourning. More specifically he notes that there is at least one blessing that we can find as we mourn: there are others present with us.
Blessed are those who mourn, for others
stand with them.
Most translations translate the word as "comfort." And they are right. But PARAKALEO very literally means to "call alongside" of someone. Depending on the context of the passage in which it occurs, it is translated a variety of ways: comfort, encourage, exhort, etc. In order to bring out the sense that it always involves having someone "alongside us" as they call, The Immanence Bible translates as "stand with them."
The most comforting (or encouraging) thing about someone "calling alongside" me is that they are there to begin with. They have my back...and my side. We are intimate friends even as we mourn together.
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