---
title: John 14:16
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-14-16/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-14-16.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 14:16
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 14:16

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—

## JW Usage

Jehovah's Witnesses read John 14:16 — "I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper" — as evidence that Jesus is subordinate to the Father (he must ask) and that the "helper" is Jehovah's impersonal active force, not a distinct person. The NWT consistently renders "holy spirit" in lowercase throughout the Farewell Discourse (John 14-16), reinforcing the Watchtower's position that the spirit is an impersonal force rather than a divine person. The word "another" (allos) is understood as another manifestation of God's power, not another person alongside the Father and Son.

## Protestant Usage

John 14:16 reveals three distinct persons interacting: the Son asks, the Father gives, and "another helper" (allos paraklētos) is sent. The Greek allos means "another of the same kind" — the Spirit is another helper of the same kind as Jesus, not a lesser force. Jesus is the first Paraclete (1 John 2:1 uses the same word for Jesus); the Spirit is the second. An impersonal force cannot be "another" counsellor of the same kind as a person. The passage also establishes the Trinity in miniature: the Son requests, the Father sends, and the Spirit arrives — three personal agents involved in one act. Matthew 28:19 places the Spirit alongside the Father and Son under one name. Second Corinthians 13:14 attributes personal actions to all three — grace, love, and fellowship. The consistent pattern across the New Testament is three persons, not two persons and a force.

## NWT Issue

The NWT depersonalises the Holy Spirit throughout John 14-16 by rendering "holy spirit" in lowercase and using impersonal pronouns. In verse 17, the NWT uses "it" for the neuter Greek auto (agreeing with pneuma), while all major translations use "him," recognising that the Spirit is spoken of as a person who teaches, testifies, convicts, guides, and speaks. In verse 26, the Greek masculine demonstrative ekeinos is rendered "that one" rather than "he." The 2013 NWT partially corrected John 16:7-8 (using "him" and "he" for some masculine pronouns), but retained lowercase "holy spirit" and "that one" for ekeinos throughout.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [What Christians Actually Believe — The Trinity Defined](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinity-definition.md) — One God, three persons — not three gods, not one person [Deity of Christ]
- [Visible, Bodily, Every Eye — The Return Acts 1:11 Promised](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/visible-bodily-return-acts1.md) — Acts 1:11 / Revelation 1:7 / 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 [Eschatology]
- [The Spirit Says 'I'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/paraclete-personal-pneumatology.md) — Acts 13:2 — First-Person Verbs in Narrative Prose [Holy Spirit]
- [Sin Doesn't Block the Spirit from the Household — The Seal That Stays](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/sin-blocks-holy-spirit-household.md) — Ephesians 1:13-14 — Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise [Holy Spirit]
- [Do Christians Pray to the Holy Spirit?](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/prayer-to-holy-spirit.md) — Romans 8:26-27 — the Spirit is the one praying with us [Holy Spirit]