John 14:18

Great as was the promise of this other helper, this spirit of truth, it did not seem to compensate for the departure of Jesus. “Another,” any other, was unable to fill the blank; it was Himself they craved. Therefore He goes on, οὐκ ἀφήσω ὑμᾶς ὀρφανούς · ἔρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, “I will not abandon you as orphans,” ὀρφανός (orbus) “bereaved,” used of fathers bereft of children (1 Thessalonians 2:17, Dionys. Hal., i.); as well as of children bereft of parents. See Elsner. πατρικῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας τὸ ῥῆμα, Euthymius. Cf. Psalms 9:14, ὀρφανῷ σὺ ἦσθα βοηθός. Wetstein quotes Rabbi Akiba as lamenting the death of Rabbi Eleazar, “Vae mihi … quia totam hanc generationem reliquisti orphanam”. The utter helplessness of the disciples without their Master is indicated, ἔρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. From the absence of ἐγώ it may be gathered that Jesus means to point out not so much that it is He who is coming through the spirit to them, as that His apparent departure is really a nearer approach.