COMFORT , from late Lat. confortare , ‘to strengthen,’ ‘reinforce,’ denoted in old Eng. ( a ) physical, or ( b ) mental refreshment of an active kind ( invigoration, encouragement ) obsolete meanings. In modern use it denotes ( c ) mental refreshment of the softer kind ( consolation ). Sense ( a ) appears in Genesis 18:6 , Judges 19:5; Judges 19:8 , Song of Solomon 2:5; ( c ) elsewhere in OT. In NT, ‘comfort’ usually represents a Gr. verb and noun, common in Paul, which include any kind of animating address; in this connexion the sense ( b ) prevails, as in Acts 9:31; Acts 16:40 , Romans 1:12; Romans 15:4 , 2 Corinthians 13:11 etc.; the tenderer signification ( c ) appears in Matthew 5:4 , 2 Corinthians 1:3 ff. etc. For the above Gr. noun , however, AV [Note: Authorized Version.] fourteen times writes ‘ consolation ’ (interchanging ‘comfort’ and ‘consolation’ in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ), alike in senses ( b ) and ( c ): this RV [Note: Revised Version.] replaces seven times (in Paul) by ‘comfort.’ ‘Comfort’ is also in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] the rendering of a second and rarer group of Gr. words denoting consolation (in sorrow): so in John 11:19; Joh 11:31 , 1 Corinthians 14:3 , and Philippians 2:1 (cf. AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), 1 Thessalonians 2:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; the original of ‘comfort’ ( soothing ) in Colossians 4:11 is an isolated expression kindred to the last. ‘Of good comfort’ in Philippians 2:19 renders a fourth Gr. word = in good heart, cheerful; while ‘of good comfort’ in Matthew 9:22 || = of good cheer in Matthew 9:2 and elsewhere (so RV [Note: Revised Version.] here, and in Mark 10:49 ).
For OT and NT, comfort has its source in the tender love of God for His people, and for the individual soul; it is mediated (in the NT) by the sympathy of Christ, the visitings of the Holy Spirit, the help of brethren, and the hope of glory; it counteracts the troubles of life, and the discouragement of work for God: see esp. John 16:33 , Romans 5:2-5 , 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 .
G. G. Findlay.