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Greek · G2564 · unreviewed

καλέω

To call: call

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καλέω G2564
Pronunciation kaléō

What does καλέω (kaléō) mean in the Bible?

καλέω (kaléō) is a Greek word meaning "to call: call". καλέω, -ῶ, [in LXX chiefly for קרא ;] __1. Emphasizes that salvation depends on God’s calling, not human works. This term runs through the canonical themes of Redemption.

Full entry for καλέω (G2564) · Browse the biblical lexicon

Meaning

to call: call
Extended definition

Summons to divine purpose: God calls people into covenant relationship and kingdom participation, not merely summoning.

1to call, summon: with accusative of person(s), Mat.20:8 25:14, Mrk.3:31, Luk.19:13, Act.4:18; before ἐκ, Mat.2:15 (LXX); metaphorically, 1Pe.2:9.
2to call to one's house, invite: Luk.14:16, 1Co.10:27, Rev.19:9; εἰς τ. γάμους, Mat.22:3, 9 Luk.14:8, 9 Jhn.2:2; ὁ καλέσας, Luk.7:39; οἱ κεκλημένοι, Mat.22:8; metaphorically, of inviting to partake of the blessings of the kingdom of God (Dalman, Words, 118f.): Rom.8:30 9:24, 25 1Co.7:17, 18; before εἰς, 1Co.1:9, 1Th.2:12, 1Ti.6:12; ὁ καλῶν (καλέσας), of God, Gal.1:6 5:8, 1Th.5:24, 1Pe.1:15, 2Pe.1:3; οἱ κεκλκλημένοι, Heb.9:15; before ἐν (ἐπί), 1Co.7:15, Gal.5:13, Eph.4:4, 1Th.4:7; κλήσει, Eph.4:1, 2Ti.1:9.
3to call, name call by name: pass., Mat.2:23, Luk.1:32, al.; καλούμενος, Luk.7:11, Act.7:58, al.; ὁ κ. (Deiss., BS, 210), Luk.6:15 22:3 23:33, Act.10:1, Rev.12:9, al.; with pred nom., Mat.5:9, Luk.1:35, Rom.9:26, Jas.2:23, 1Jn.3:1. (Cf. ἀντι-, ἐν-, εἰσ- (-μαι), ἐπι-, μετα-, παρα-, συν-παρα-, προ-, προσ-, συν-καλέω.)
Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Why This Word Matters
Emphasizes that salvation depends on God’s calling, not human works. Romans 9:1-13
Grammatical Forms

How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.

Tenses
Future Aorist Present Perfect Imperfect
Voices
Passive Active
Indicative states a fact or reality 64×
Aorist Passive Matt 27:8 · Luke 2:21 · John 2:2 · 1 Cor 7:18 · 1 Cor 7:20 · 1 Cor 7:24 · Jas 2:23 · 1 Cor 1:9 · Gal 5:13 · Eph 4:1 · Eph 4:4 · Col 3:15 · 1 Pet 2:21 · 1 Pet 3:9 · 1 Cor 7:21 · 1 Tim 6:12 16×
Future Passive Matt 2:23 · Matt 5:19 · Matt 21:13 · Mark 11:17 · Luke 1:32 · Luke 1:35 · Luke 1:60 · Luke 2:23 · Rom 9:7 · Heb 11:18 · Matt 5:9 · Rom 9:26 · Luke 1:76 · John 1:42 15×
Aorist Active Matt 1:25 · Matt 4:21 · Matt 25:14 · Mark 1:20 · Luke 14:16 · Rom 8:30 · Rom 9:24 · 1 Thess 4:7 · 2 Thess 2:14 · Matt 2:15 11×
Present Passive Luke 1:61 · Luke 2:4 · Acts 28:1 · Heb 3:13 · Rev 11:8 · Luke 22:25 6×
Present Active Matt 22:43 · Matt 22:45 · Luke 20:44 · 1 Cor 10:27 · Luke 6:46 5×
Future Active Matt 1:21 · Luke 1:13 · Luke 1:31 · Matt 1:23 · Rom 9:25 5×
Imperfect Active Luke 1:59 · Acts 14:12 2×
Perfect Active 1 Cor 7:15 · 1 Cor 7:17 2×
Perfect Passive 1 Cor 7:18 · Rev 19:13 2×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 64×
Present Passive Luke 6:15 · Luke 22:3 · Luke 23:33 · Acts 1:23 · Acts 15:22 · Acts 15:37 · Acts 27:8 · Rev 16:16 · Luke 19:2 · Acts 13:1 · Acts 27:14 · Heb 5:4 · Heb 11:8 · Rev 12:9 · Rev 19:11 · Luke 1:36 30×
Aorist Active Matt 2:7 · Luke 7:39 · Luke 14:9 · Luke 19:13 · Gal 1:15 · 1 Pet 5:10 · Gal 1:6 · 2 Tim 1:9 · 1 Pet 2:9 · 2 Pet 1:3 · Acts 4:18 · 1 Pet 1:15 12×
Perfect Passive Matt 22:8 · Heb 9:15 · Rev 19:9 · Matt 22:3 · Luke 14:7 · Matt 22:4 · Luke 14:17 · Luke 14:8 · Luke 14:24 9×
Present Active Rom 4:17 · Rom 9:12 · Gal 5:8 · 1 Thess 2:12 · Mark 3:31 · 1 Thess 5:24 · 1 Pet 3:6 7×
Aorist Passive 1 Cor 7:22 · Luke 2:21 · Acts 24:2 4×
Perfect Active Luke 14:10 · Luke 14:12 2×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 11×
Aorist Active Matt 9:13 · Matt 22:3 · Mark 2:17 · Luke 5:32 4×
Present Passive Matt 23:7 · Luke 1:62 · 1 Cor 15:9 3×
Aorist Passive Luke 15:19 · Luke 15:21 · Acts 1:19 3×
Present Active Heb 2:11 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 6×
Aorist Passive Matt 23:8 · Matt 23:10 · Luke 14:8 · Luke 14:10 · 1 John 3:1 5×
Aorist Active Matt 23:9 1×
Imperative command or strong request 3×
Aorist Active Matt 20:8 · Matt 22:9 2×
Present Active Luke 14:13 1×
148 total occurrences across all forms in the biblical text Morphology: MorphGNT SBLGNT — CC BY-SA 3.0
Discourse Aspect

How this verb appears across 88 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).

Aspect
completed 24 ongoing 6 prospective 7 resultant 3 imperative 3 background 2 subjunctive 3 infinitive 5 participle 35
Tense
aorist 49 present 17 perfect 13 future 7 imperfect 2
Voice
active 55 passive 33
Mood
indicative 42 participle 35 infinitive 5 subjunctive 3 imperative 3
NT Occurrences
Matthew 1:21 καλέσεις future active indicative prospective Matthew 1:23 καλέσουσιν future active indicative prospective Matthew 1:25 ἐκάλεσεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 2:15 ἐκάλεσα aorist active indicative completed Matthew 2:7 καλέσας aorist active participle participle Matthew 4:21 ἐκάλεσεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 9:13 καλέσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Matthew 20:8 Κάλεσον aorist active imperative imperative Matthew 22:3 καλέσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Matthew 22:3 κεκλημένους perfect passive participle participle Matthew 22:4 κεκλημένοις perfect passive participle participle Matthew 22:43 καλεῖ present active indicative ongoing Matthew 22:45 καλεῖ present active indicative ongoing Matthew 22:8 κεκλημένοι perfect passive participle participle Matthew 22:9 καλέσατε aorist active imperative imperative Matthew 23:9 καλέσητε aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Matthew 25:14 ἐκάλεσεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 1:20 ἐκάλεσεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 2:17 καλέσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Mark 3:31 καλοῦντες present active participle participle Luke 1:13 καλέσεις future active indicative prospective Luke 1:31 καλέσεις future active indicative prospective Luke 1:59 ἐκάλουν imperfect active indicative background Luke 1:61 καλεῖται present passive indicative ongoing Luke 2:21 κληθὲν aorist passive participle participle Luke 5:32 καλέσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Luke 6:46 καλεῖτε present active indicative ongoing Luke 7:39 καλέσας aorist active participle participle Luke 14:10 κληθῇς aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive Luke 14:10 κεκληκώς perfect active participle participle Luke 14:12 κεκληκότι perfect active participle participle Luke 14:13 κάλει present active imperative imperative Luke 14:16 ἐκάλεσεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 14:17 κεκλημένοις perfect passive participle participle Luke 14:24 κεκλημένων perfect passive participle participle Luke 14:7 κεκλημένους perfect passive participle participle Luke 14:8 κληθῇς aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive Luke 14:9 καλέσας aorist active participle participle Luke 19:13 καλέσας aorist active participle participle Luke 20:44 καλεῖ present active indicative ongoing +48 more occurrences

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)

Canonical Themes
Redemption
Biblical Occurrences

Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.

New Testament Witnesses
Romans 9:1-13 καλέω kaléō Indicative · Future Passive
To call, summon.
Appears In

Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.

καλέω · πολύς G2564, G4183
invited many, called many
Word Pictures (Robertson)

A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.

1 Corinthians 7 — Marriage, Singleness, Calling, and Undistracted Devotion to the Lord John 10 — The Good Shepherd, the Door, and the Son One with the Father Luke 14 — Kingdom Humility, Banquet Mercy, and the Cost of Discipleship Mark 1 — The Beginning of the Gospel: The Servant-King Appears with Authority Mark 2 — The Son of Man Has Authority: Forgiveness, Fellowship, and Lordship Matthew 22 — The Wedding Banquet, the King’s Invitation, and the Messiah Who Is David’s Lord Matthew 9 — Authority to Forgive, Mercy for Sinners, and Compassion for the Harvest Romans 8 — No Condemnation, Life in the Spirit, and the Unbreakable Love of God in Christ Romans 9 — God’s Faithfulness, Sovereign Mercy, and Israel’s Stumbling Over Christ

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain

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

STEPBible Data — CC BY 4.0

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