What does ἐγκαλέω (enkaléō) mean in the Bible?
ἐγκαλέω (enkaléō): To bring a formal charge against someone in a legal or official context.
Greek · G1458
ἐγκαλέω
To accuse
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ἐγκαλέω G1458
Pronunciation enkaléō
What does ἐγκαλέω (enkaléō) mean in the Bible?
ἐγκαλέω (enkaléō): To bring a formal charge against someone in a legal or official context.
Full entry for ἐγκαλέω (G1458) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1458?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [against] (1), [that] I am accused (1), being charged (1), Let them bring charges against (1), the accusation (1).
Where does ἐγκαλέω (enkaléō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 19:38. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (6), Romans (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It [against] 1× Acts 23:28
[that] I am accused 1× Acts 26:7
being charged 1× Acts 19:40
Let them bring charges against 1× Acts 19:38
the accusation 1× Acts 23:29
the accusations 1× Acts 26:2
will bring any charge 1× Romans 8:33
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 19:38 ἐγκαλείτωσαν to Let them bring charges against Verb - Present Imperative Active - 3rd Person Plural Acts 19:40 ἐγκαλεῖσθαι to being charged Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive Acts 23:28 ἐνεκάλουν to [against] Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Acts 23:29 ἐγκαλούμενον to the accusation Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Singular Acts 26:2 ἐγκαλοῦμαι to the accusations Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular Acts 26:7 ἐγκαλοῦμαι to [that] I am accused Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular Romans 8:33 ἐγκαλέσει to will bring any charge Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Acts 19:38
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 2
Acts 6 Romans 1
Source forms
ἐγκαλοῦμαι 2x enkaloumai Acts 26:2, Acts 26:7
ἐγκαλεῖσθαι 1x enkaleisthai Acts 19:40
ἐγκαλείτωσαν 1x enkaleitōsan Acts 19:38
ἐγκαλέσει 1x enkalesei Romans 8:33
ἐγκαλούμενον 1x enkaloumenon Acts 23:29
ἐνεκάλουν 1x enekaloun Acts 23:28
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular 2x Acts 26:2, Acts 26:7
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Romans 8:33
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Acts 23:28
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Acts 19:38
Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive 1x Acts 19:40
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x Acts 23:29
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To bring a formal charge against someone in a legal or official context.
Strong's G1458
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 7 times Word forms 4 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to accuse
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 19:38 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Imperative
ἐγκαλείτωσαν egkaleitwsan
I bring a charge against, accuse
Read verse Acts 19:40 Verb Present Passive Infinitive
ἐγκαλεῖσθαι egkaleisqai
I bring a charge against, accuse
Read verse Acts 23:28 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐνεκάλουν enekaloun
I bring a charge against, accuse
Read verse Acts 23:29 Verb Present Passive Participle Accusative Singular Masculine
ἐγκαλούμενον egkaloumenon
I bring a charge against, accuse
Read verse Acts 26:2 Verb First Person Singular Present Passive Indicative
ἐγκαλοῦμαι egkaloumai
I bring a charge against, accuse
Read verse Acts 26:7 Verb First Person Singular Present Passive Indicative
ἐγκαλοῦμαι, egkaloumai
I bring a charge against, accuse
Read verse Romans 8:33 Verb Third Person Singular Future Active Indicative
ἐγκαλέσει egkalesei
I bring a charge against, accuse
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 4 Aligned forms 7 Tenses Present, Imperfect, Future Voices Passive, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 4×
Present Passive Acts 26:2 · Acts 26:7 2×
Imperfect Active Acts 23:28 1×
Future Active Rom 8:33 1×
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Present Active Acts 19:38 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Present Passive Acts 19:40 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Present Passive Acts 23:29 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 5 imperfect 1 future 1
Voice
passive 4 active 3
Mood
indicative 4 imperative 1 infinitive 1 participle 1
NT Occurrences
Acts 19:38 ἐγκαλείτωσαν present active imperative imperative Acts 19:40 ἐγκαλεῖσθαι present passive infinitive infinitive Acts 23:28 ἐνεκάλουν imperfect active indicative background Acts 23:29 ἐγκαλούμενον present passive participle participle Acts 26:2 ἐγκαλοῦμαι present passive indicative ongoing Acts 26:7 ἐγκαλοῦμαι present passive indicative ongoing Romans 8:33 ἐγκαλέσει future active indicative prospective
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Word Origins
ἐγκαλέω is built from these roots:
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain