What does προσκαλέομαι (proskaléomai) mean in the Bible?
Proskaleomai means to call or summon someone to oneself. The middle form highlights a caller gathering particular people for a purpose.
Greek · G4341
προσκαλέομαι
To call to/summon
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προσκαλέομαι G4341
Pronunciation proskaléomai
What does προσκαλέομαι (proskaléomai) mean in the Bible?
Proskaleomai means to call or summon someone to oneself. The middle form highlights a caller gathering particular people for a purpose.
Reader summary
Full entry for προσκαλέομαι (G4341) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4341?
The BSB source-word alignment has 29 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [Jesus] called (6), called (3), summoned (3), he called (2), [Jesus] called them together (1).
Where does προσκαλέομαι (proskaléomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:1. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (9), Mark (9), Matthew (6), Luke (4).
What This Word Actually Means
Proskaleomai means to call or summon someone to oneself. The middle form highlights a caller gathering particular people for a purpose. Jesus summons the Twelve and gives them authority for mission. He calls opponents near in order to answer their accusations with parables. Pilate summons the centurion to verify Jesus' death. The apostles call the whole body of disciples together to address a ministry problem.
James tells a sick believer to summon the church's elders for prayer. The act of calling does not make every caller authoritative in the same way. Its significance comes from who calls, whom they call, and the purpose of the gathering. The word illuminates purposeful nearness, accountability, and shared action without proving a general doctrine of calling by itself.
How the Bible Uses It
Proskaleomai brings people into purposeful proximity. Jesus gathers disciples for commissioned ministry and critics for correction; Pilate seeks verified information; the apostles convene the church; and the sick call elders for prayer. Each summons creates a setting for action, but its authority varies with the caller.
- Matt.10.1
And calling His twelve disciples to Him, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness.
Matthew 10:1 says Jesus called His twelve disciples to Himself and granted authority over unclean spirits and disease. Their mission begins with His initiative, presence, and delegated authority.
- Mark.3.23
So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?
Mark 3:23 has Jesus summon the scribes and answer their charge through parables. Calling opponents near serves public correction and exposes the incoherence of attributing His work to Satan.
- Mark.15.44
Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so.
Mark 15:44 records Pilate summoning the centurion to confirm that Jesus had already died. The administrative inquiry reinforces the narrative reality of Jesus' death before burial.
- Acts.6.2
So the Twelve summoned all the disciples and said, “It is unacceptable for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.
Acts 6:2 shows the Twelve calling the full number of disciples together during a distribution crisis. The summons supports transparent communal participation while the apostles guard prayer and word ministry.
- Jas.5.14
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
James 5:14 instructs the sick person to call the elders of the church. The elders come near to pray and anoint in the Lord's name, placing need within accountable congregational care.
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 [Jesus] called 6× Matthew 15:10, Mark 6:7, Mark 7:14, Mark 8:1
called 3× Matthew 15:32, Luke 7:19, Acts 23:17
summoned 3× Matthew 18:32, Acts 6:2, Acts 13:7
he called 2× Luke 15:26, Acts 23:23
[Jesus] called them together 1× Mark 3:23
[Jesus] invited 1× Matthew 18:2
called [the children] to [Him] 1× Luke 18:16
called for 1× Mark 3:13
called them aside 1× Matthew 20:25
called them together 1× Mark 10:42
calling 1× Matthew 10:1
had called 1× Acts 16:10
he called in 1× Luke 16:5
He should call 1× James 5:14
he summoned 1× Mark 15:44
I have called 1× Acts 13:2
sent 1× Acts 23:18
They called 1× Acts 5:40
will call to Himself 1× Acts 2:39
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 10:1 προσκαλεσάμενος to calling Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 15:10 προσκαλεσάμενος to [Jesus] called Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 15:32 προσκαλεσάμενος to called Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 18:2 προσκαλεσάμενος to [Jesus] invited Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 18:32 προσκαλεσάμενος to summoned Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 20:25 προσκαλεσάμενος to called them aside Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 3:13 προσκαλεῖται to called for Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular Mark 3:23 προσκαλεσάμενος to [Jesus] called them together Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 6:7 προσκαλεῖται to [Jesus] called Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular Mark 7:14 προσκαλεσάμενος to [Jesus] called Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 10:1
Aligned rows 29
Books represented 5
Matthew 6 Mark 9 Luke 4 Acts 9 James 1
Source forms
προσκαλεσάμενος 18x proskalesamenos Matthew 10:1, Matthew 15:10, Matthew 15:32, Matthew 18:2
προσκαλεῖται 2x proskaleitai Mark 3:13, Mark 6:7
προσκαλεσάμενός 2x proskalesamenos Acts 23:18, Acts 23:23
προσεκαλέσατο 1x prosekalesato Luke 18:16
προσκαλεσάμενοι 1x proskalesamenoi Acts 5:40
Προσκαλεσάμενοι 1x Proskalesamenoi Acts 6:2
προσκαλεσάσθω 1x proskalesasthō James 5:14
προσκαλέσηται 1x proskalesētai Acts 2:39
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular 20x Matthew 10:1, Matthew 15:10, Matthew 15:32, Matthew 18:2
Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Plural 2x Acts 5:40, Acts 6:2
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 2x Mark 3:13, Mark 6:7
Verb - Aorist Imperative Middle - 3rd Person Singular 1x James 5:14
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 18:16
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 2:39
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular 1x Acts 13:2
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 16:10
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not claim that every human summons carries the authority of Christ's call to the Twelve.
- Do not use Acts 6 to erase either apostolic responsibility or meaningful congregational participation.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that every human summons carries the authority of Christ's call to the Twelve.
- Do not use Acts 6 to erase either apostolic responsibility or meaningful congregational participation.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To call someone to oneself with intent; summoning for a specific purpose or relationship.
Strong's G4341
Lexical occurrences 29 verses Greek text appearances 30 times 16 shown below Word forms 4 forms 29 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Acts 16:6-10 Source Gloss
to call to/summon
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To call someone to oneself with intent; summoning for a specific purpose or relationship.
to call to. Mid., to call to oneself (see M, Pr., 157): with accusative of person(s), Mat.10:1, Mrk.3:13 6:7, Luk.7:19, Act.5:40, Jas.5:14, al. Metaphorical, of the Divine call: Act.2:39; with inf., Act.16:10 (see Bl., § 69, 4); before εἰς, Act.13:2.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 30 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 10:1 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Matthew 15:10 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Matthew 15:32 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Matthew 18:2 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Matthew 18:32 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Matthew 20:25 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Mark 3:13 Verb Third Person Singular Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
προσκαλεῖται proskaleitai
I summon
Read verse Mark 3:23 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Mark 6:7 Verb Third Person Singular Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
προσκαλεῖται proskaleitai
I summon
Read verse Mark 7:14 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Mark 8:1 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Mark 8:34 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Mark 10:42 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Mark 12:43 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Mark 15:44 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
Read verse Luke 7:19 Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσκαλεσάμενος proskalesamenov
I summon
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 29 Tenses Aorist, Present, Perfect Voices Middle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 22×
Aorist Middle Matt 10:1 · Matt 15:10 · Matt 15:32 · Matt 18:2 · Matt 18:32 · Matt 20:25 · Mark 3:23 · Mark 7:14 · Mark 8:1 · Mark 8:34 · Mark 10:42 · Mark 12:43 · Mark 15:44 · Luke 7:18 · Luke 15:26 · Luke 16:5 22×
Indicative states a fact or reality 5×
Present Middle Mark 3:13 · Mark 6:7 2×
Perfect Middle Acts 13:2 · Acts 16:10 2×
Aorist Middle Luke 18:16 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 1×
Aorist Middle Acts 2:39 1×
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Aorist Middle Jas 5:14 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 29 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 25 perfect 2 present 2
Voice
middle 29
Mood
participle 22 indicative 5 subjunctive 1 imperative 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 10:1 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Matthew 15:10 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Matthew 15:32 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Matthew 18:2 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Matthew 18:32 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Matthew 20:25 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Mark 3:13 προσκαλεῖται present middle indicative ongoing Mark 3:23 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Mark 6:7 προσκαλεῖται present middle indicative ongoing Mark 7:14 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Mark 8:1 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Mark 8:34 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Mark 10:42 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Mark 12:43 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Mark 15:44 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Luke 7:18 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Luke 15:26 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Luke 16:5 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Luke 18:16 προσεκαλέσατο aorist middle indicative completed Acts 2:39 προσκαλέσηται aorist middle subjunctive subjunctive Acts 5:40 προσκαλεσάμενοι aorist middle participle participle Acts 6:2 προσκαλεσάμενοι aorist middle participle participle Acts 13:2 προσκέκλημαι perfect middle indicative resultant Acts 13:7 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Acts 16:10 προσκέκληται perfect middle indicative resultant Acts 23:17 προσκαλεσάμενος aorist middle participle participle Acts 23:18 προσκαλεσάμενός aorist middle participle participle Acts 23:23 προσκαλεσάμενός aorist middle participle participle James 5:14 προσκαλεσάσθω aorist middle imperative imperative
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
To summon or invite.
Additional Occurrences
Luke 18:15–17 προσεκαλεσάτο proskaléomai
Called to Himself
Mark 3:13–19 προσκαλέομαι proskaléomai
to summon, call to oneself
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 29 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
προσκαλέομαι is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Affirms God’s initiative in directing gospel expansion. Acts 16:6-10
For the Preacher and Teacher
Proskaleomai portrays authority and care through purposeful gathering. Jesus calls the Twelve near before sending them, making mission a response to His initiative and delegated power. He also summons hostile scribes, showing that nearness can serve correction rather than affirmation. Pilate's call for the centurion establishes verified testimony about Jesus' death.
In Acts 6 the apostles convene the disciples rather than solving a communal injustice in secrecy, while James pictures sick believers drawing elders into prayerful, accountable care. These scenes resist both authoritarian distance and individualistic isolation. Faithful leaders gather people for truth, service, discernment, and prayer according to their actual responsibility.
Yet the verb does not give every summons Christ's authority. Churches must distinguish the Lord's unique call, delegated office, civic inquiry, and ordinary requests for care while honoring the purposeful presence each passage requires.
Anchor passage
Acts.6.2
Doctrinal connections
- Christology: Jesus initiates mission and delegates authority to His chosen apostles.
- Kingdom conflict: Jesus confronts false accusations with reasoned, authoritative teaching.
- Death of Christ: Pilate's verification supports the concrete reality of Jesus' death and burial.
- Church order: apostles gather the disciples to address neglected widows and protect word-and-prayer ministry.
- Pastoral care: elders draw near to sick members with prayer in the Lord's name.
- Authority: summonses receive their weight from the caller's identity, office, and stated purpose.
Proskaleomai combines pros with kaleō and commonly means to call someone toward oneself or summon. The middle morphology is conventional in this lexical form; interpreters should not build an elaborate theology from the voice alone.
From Old to New Testament
God calls assemblies and summons leaders throughout Israel's history, while wisdom and prophets call hearers to attend. New Testament gatherings are centered on Christ's authority and ordered toward truthful service, prayer, and care.
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