καλέσουσι (kalesousin) in Matthew 1:23: Verb Third Person Plural Future Active Indicative
καλέσουσι (kalesousin) in Matthew 1:23
Textual Witness
The witness reads as textus receptus, Scrivener 1894, at Matthew 1:23 with the surface form kalesousin in the naming clause.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form strengthens the sense of an announced future identification, while the verse context supplies the meaning that the child's name points to God's presence with us.
How To Communicate It
Use the form to explain the clause as a future public naming, while keeping the name's theological force anchored in the surrounding sentence.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Plural verb form does not by itself settle the identity of the speakers beyond the verse context.
- Do not make grammatical gender or person into a theological claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form presents an action or speaking event, here an act of naming rather than a noun or descriptor.
Future: points the action forward from the speaker's viewpoint, while the sentence controls the exact sense.
Active: presents the subject as doing or carrying the action.
Indicative: presents the verbal idea as an assertion or statement in the clause.
Third person: the form speaks about someone or something rather than directly as I/we or you.
Not applicable: this verb form is not using noun case to mark its sentence role.
Plural: the ending marks a third person plural form, so the action is presented as coming from more than one subject.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The naming phrase that gives the child the name Emmanuel
It is governed by the verse's naming clause, where the future verb points to what people will call the child in the cited promise.
The form functions as the main verb of the clause and indicates a future act of naming in the reported speech of the verse.
It does not by itself identify the speakers, define the child's identity, or supply the whole meaning of the name.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The future verb carries the naming clause in the Emmanuel citation.
Third-person plural future active indicative naming verb. states the future naming or calling in the citation. Attached to the child and the name Emmanuel. Governed by the cited promise in Matthew 1:23. The verb expresses the naming action; the name explanation and citation carry the fulfillment meaning.
What name does the citation say will be used? It says they will call his name Emmanuel.
Direct: The future plural verb directly supports English wording such as "they shall call."
The verb states the naming action, but the meaning of Emmanuel comes from the explanation that follows.
Naming verb alone proves the whole identity claim: The naming verb introduces the name; the citation, explanation, and Gospel context carry the identity claim.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads as textus receptus, Scrivener 1894, at Matthew 1:23 with the surface form kalesousin in the naming clause.
The lemma is kaleo, a verb meaning to call, invite, or name, and here the context favors the naming sense.
The future indicative frames the naming as something expected ahead, and the plural form leaves the subject as the surrounding context supplies it.
In this verse the child will be publicly identified as Emmanuel, so the verb serves the announcement that his name will be spoken and recognized that way.
This fits the verse's larger promise of divine presence, where the naming supports the theme that God is with his people.
For readers and teachers, the grammar helps show that the verse reports a future naming, not a mere label or private nickname.
Do not derive from the plural ending any more certainty about the named speakers than the immediate context provides, and do not turn tense or voice into extra theology.