To call: call
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
kaleo means to call, summon, invite, name, or address someone. Its New Testament range includes ordinary naming, invitations to meals, Jesus calling sinners, people addressing Jesus, and God's saving summons into fellowship, holiness, peace, kingdom, and light.
Reader summary
Full entry for καλέω (G2564) · Open the biblical lexicon
kaleo means to call, summon, invite, name, or address someone. Its New Testament range includes ordinary naming, invitations to meals, Jesus calling sinners, people addressing Jesus, and God's saving summons into fellowship, holiness, peace, kingdom, and light.
The BSB source-word alignment has 148 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include called (22), will be called (9), calls (6), to call (5), you were called (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:21. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (43), Matthew (26), Acts (18), 1 Corinthians (12).
This entry includes 6 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Kaleo means to call, summon, invite, name, or address someone. Its New Testament range includes ordinary naming, invitations to meals, Jesus calling sinners, people addressing Jesus, and God's saving summons into fellowship, holiness, peace, kingdom, and light. Context decides whether the call is simple naming, social invitation, public summons, or the effective grace of God.
Matthew names the child Jesus because He will save His people; Jesus says He came to call sinners; John records Simon being called Cephas; Paul joins calling to justification and glory; Peter says believers were called out of darkness. The word therefore carries both relational address and divine summons, but it should not be forced into one technical meaning in every verse.
The selected passages move from naming Jesus, to Jesus' mission toward sinners, to Simon's new name, to God's saving call, fellowship with Christ, and public identity as a people called out of darkness.
She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Joseph is told to give the child the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. kaleo here is naming with gospel significance.
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus says He came to call sinners, not the righteous. The verb carries His merciful mission toward those who need repentance and grace.
Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter).
Jesus tells Simon that he will be called Cephas. The naming anticipates Peter's role while still leaving his growth under Jesus' authority.
And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
Paul links predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. Here God's call belongs to the saving chain of grace.
God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
God is faithful, and He has called believers into fellowship with His Son. Calling creates communion with Christ, not religious isolation.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Peter says God's people were called out of darkness into His marvelous light. The call creates worshiping identity and public proclamation.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Summons to divine purpose: God calls people into covenant relationship and kingdom participation, not merely summoning.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 146 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
Read verseI call, invite, name
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.
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.
How this verb appears across 88 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
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)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 148 lexical occurrence verses.
καλέω is built from this root:
Emphasizes that salvation depends on God’s calling, not human works. Romans 9:1-13
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Kaleo is a flexible verb of calling, and its meaning is governed by the speaker, hearer, and situation. Sometimes it simply names a person or place. Sometimes it invites people to a banquet or summons someone into view. At the center of Christian teaching, however, the word becomes rich because God Himself calls. Jesus is named for His saving mission. Jesus calls sinners because mercy, not self-righteousness, defines His work.
Simon is called Cephas under Jesus' knowing authority. Paul teaches that those whom God calls, He also justifies and glorifies, while 1 Corinthians says believers are called into fellowship with the Son. Peter adds that the church has been called out of darkness into light so that it may proclaim God's excellencies. The call of God is therefore not bare sound; it is gracious address that names, summons, gathers, and reorients a people in Christ.
Rom.8.30
Kaleo ranges from naming to summoning to inviting. Do not decide the theological weight from the English word call alone. A social invitation, a personal name, a summons to discipleship, and God's saving call share the verb but not the same immediate force.
God's covenant address in the Old Testament names people, summons prophets, calls Israel, and promises a people for His name. The New Testament centers that calling in Jesus, who is named Savior and gathers sinners into the people of God.
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