Parakaleo (G3870) covers the full pastoral range: to comfort the grieving, to exhort the sluggish, to urge the wavering, to appeal to the hard-hearted. It shares its root with parakletos โ the Comforter/Advocate, the Holy Spirit. The one who does parakaleo comes alongside and addresses the actual need of the person in front of them.
Paul's letters are full of parakaleo: 'I urge [parakaleo] you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice' (Romans 12:1). The entire shape of Christian ethics in Paul is presented as appeal, not command โ not law but a call to respond to mercy already received. 2 Corinthians 1 ties parakaleo to suffering: God comforts us so we can comfort others.