ἐκάλεσε (ekalesen) in Matthew 1:25: Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐκάλεσε (ekalesen) in Matthew 1:25
Textual Witness
The Textus Receptus reading here is ἐκάλεσε, and the verse context places it after the birth statement and before the name Jesus.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form supports reading the clause as a completed naming action in the storyline, helping the verse move from birth to the giving of the child's name.
How To Communicate It
In teaching or translation, this form can be rendered plainly as he named or he called, with the context deciding that the naming sense is intended.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Verb morphology can narrow the sense, but it should not be used to add claims the verse does not state.
- Gender, number, and tense here are descriptive features, not theology in themselves.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action or event, here an act of naming or calling in the sentence.
Aorist: commonly views the action as a whole event. It should not be treated as automatically punctiliar or automatically past in every context.
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.
Singular: the form is marked for a single subject, which fits the one implied actor in this clause.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἸΗΣΟΥΝ
The verb governs a naming idea with an accusative object and a name complement, so the sentence reports what was named.
It states the action that Joseph performed after the birth, namely that he named the child Jesus.
It is not describing identity in the abstract, and it does not by itself explain the whole meaning of the name.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The verb reports Joseph carrying out the commanded naming of Jesus.
Aorist active indicative naming verb. states Joseph's completed naming action. Attached to the child's name Jesus. Governed by the narrative report after the birth. The aorist reports the naming as a whole event; the earlier angelic explanation supplies the name's significance.
What action does Joseph complete after the birth? He names the child Jesus.
Direct: The aorist verb directly supports English wording such as "he called" or "he named."
The form reports the naming event; the theological reason for the name comes from the angelic speech in Matthew 1:21.
Aorist naming proves once-for-all theological force by tense alone: The aorist presents the naming as a whole event; the passage explains the theological significance.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The Textus Receptus reading here is ἐκάλεσε, and the verse context places it after the birth statement and before the name Jesus.
The lemma καλέω commonly means to call, summon, or name, so this occurrence belongs to the naming sense in context.
The aorist indicative presents the naming as a simple narrated event, while the singular subject is understood from the context rather than stated here.
The verse says that after the child was born, Joseph named him Jesus, marking a concrete parental or legal naming act in the story.
This fits Matthew's broader emphasis on divine purpose working through the naming of Jesus, while still reporting an ordinary narrative action.
For readers, the form helps the sentence sound like an event report, not a command, question, or ongoing process.
Do not infer more from tense, voice, or number than the context supports, and do not treat verbal form as overriding the sentence's narrative sense.