Greek word · G2822

κλητός

klētos

called

Called, summoned, invited: guests invited to a feast, or people convened to an assembly. In Paul it means people whom God's summons has actually brought into his people.

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

κλητός, -ή, -όν

(καλέω), [in LXX for קָרָא, מִקְרָא, Exodus 12:16, al. ;]

called, invited (as to a banquet, Æsch., 1Sa 1:41, 3Ma.5:14); in NT, always of the Divine call;

(a) to some office: κ. ἀπόστολος, Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1;

(b) to salvation: Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 1:24, Jude 1:1; κ. καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ κ. πιστοί, Revelation 17:14; in gosp. (not in pl., see: καλέω) disting. fr.ἐκλεκτός, Matthew 20:16 (WH, txt., R, omit), Matthew 22:14; κ. Ἰησοῦ Χρ., Romans 1:6; κ. ἅγιοι, saints by calling, Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Romans 8:28

Range of meaning

Called, summoned, invited: guests invited to a feast, or people convened to an assembly. In Paul it means people whom God's summons has actually brought into his people.

Against the English

English 'called' today often means a personal vocation ('my calling is teaching') or a sense of being drawn to ministry. That is not the sense here.

How it drifted

The idea of 'calling' as one's station or work in life grew in the Reformation era (Luther's Beruf) and later developed into modern career and ministry language. That is a valid idea elsewhere, but it is not what klētos means here.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament: 1 Kings 1:41, 49, the 'invited guests' of Adonijah. Leviticus 23:2–3 and following, 'holy convocations' (klētai hagiai), the sacred assemblies Israel was summoned to. God 'calls' Israel in Isa 41:9 and 42:6. NT: Matt 22:14; Rom 1:1, 6, 7; 1 Cor 1:1, 2, 24.

From the study of 1 Corinthians 1:24

Range of meaning

Called, summoned, invited. In ordinary Greek it describes a guest invited to a banquet or someone summoned to court or to an assembly. In Paul it always means people God has summoned and who have come to belong to him: 'called to be an apostle' (Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1), 'called saints' (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2), 'those called according to his purpose' (Rom 8:28).

Against the English

English 'the called' is close. But modern church language has narrowed 'calling' to a personal vocation (a call to ministry, a career, a mission field). Paul's word names membership in God's people. Every believer in Corinth is 'called'.

How it drifted

Since the Reformation, 'calling' (German Beruf) has been used for a person's station or job, and in modern evangelical usage for a special summons to ministry. Both senses grew out of the biblical word but are narrower than Paul's use of it here.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX uses κλητός for 'invited guests' (1 Kgs 1:41, 49; 3 Kgdms) and 'called' assemblies (κλητὴ ἁγία, 'holy convocation', Exod 12:16; Lev 23 repeatedly). That echo suggests a people summoned to stand before God. Jesus' saying 'many are called (κλητοί) but few chosen' (Matt 22:14) keeps the banquet-invitation sense. Paul's usage is more decisive: the called are those who answered.

From the study of Romans 1:1

Range of meaning

Klētos: 'called, summoned, invited', used of guests invited to a feast and, in the LXX, of the 'holy convocation' (klētē hagia, Lev 23). Apostolos: from apostellō 'to send off'; in earlier Greek sometimes a naval expedition or a consignment, but in the New Testament an authorised envoy sent with a commission and acting on the sender's authority.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV turn the adjective into a clause, 'called to be an apostle', which can sound like an invitation to a future role or a vocation one feels. YLT keeps the Greek shape: 'a called apostle', i.e. an apostle by summons. 'Apostle' is itself a transliteration and hides the plain sense 'one sent'.

How it drifted

'Apostle' became a fixed church office-name, so the everyday sense 'envoy, delegate' dropped out of hearing. 'Called' in modern English often means an inner sense of vocation; here it means summoned by someone else.

Used elsewhere in the period

Paul's own account in Gal 1:15–16 echoes the prophets' call-stories (Jer 1:5; Isa 49:1). The rabbinic principle 'a man's agent is as himself' (m. Berakhot 5:5) illustrates the logic of authorised envoys, though that text is later than Paul and its institution of the šālîaḥ should not be read straight back into him. Herodotus (1.21; 5.38) uses apostolos for a messenger.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 22:14 κλητοί, called,

    For many are called, but few are chosen.”

    Here: "Invited ones": the guests summoned to the feast. In this parable the matching verb kaleō has just been used several times for sending out wedding invitations (22:3, 4, 8, 9), so the first hearers would have heard "invited guests", not "those given a vocation".

Romans · 4

  1. Romans 1:1 κλητὸς a called

    Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—

    Here: An adjective: Paul is a 'called' apostle, one summoned by God rather than self-appointed or appointed by a church. It picks up the call-stories of Israel's prophets.

  2. Romans 1:6 κλητοὶ called

    And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

    Here: 'Called ones': people God has summoned or invited. This is the same word Paul uses for himself in verse 1 ('called apostle') and for the readers again in verse 7 ('called saints'). It names a status God gives, not a feeling or a job.

  3. Romans 1:7 κλητοῖς to [those] called

    To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Here: "Called ones" or "summoned," an adjective with no verb "to be." It picks up "called" from 1:1 (Paul, a called apostle) and 1:6 (called of Jesus Christ). God's summons is what makes them who they are.

  4. Romans 8:28 κλητοῖς called

    And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

    Here: Not a job or career 'calling'. It means people God has summoned and so made his own, as in 1:6–7 ('called to belong to Jesus Christ… called to be holy ones').

1 Corinthians · 3

  1. 1 Corinthians 1:1 κλητὸς a called

    Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

    Here: A verbal adjective meaning "someone who has been called", as a guest is invited or a person is summoned. It describes a status Paul already has because God called him. It is not a career he is working toward. Verse 2 repeats the same word for the Corinthians: "called holy ones".

  2. 1 Corinthians 1:2 κλητοῖς called

    To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

    Here: 'Called': summoned by God. The word picks up Paul's own 'called apostle' in verse 1. The Greek has no 'to be'. They are holy ones by God's call, already.

  3. 1 Corinthians 1:24 κλητοῖς, called,

    but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

    Here: People God has summoned and who now belong to him, the same word Paul used for the Corinthian believers in 1:2 ('called saints'). It means a status, not a career or ministry calling.

Jude · 1

  1. Jude 1:1 κλητοῖς· called;

    Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ:

    Here: "Called ones", the people God has summoned or invited. It stands last for emphasis and is the noun the other two descriptions hang on: "the called, loved … and kept."

Revelation · 1

  1. Revelation 17:14 κλητοὶ [are] called

    They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”

    Here: People who have been summoned or invited. Compare 19:9: 'blessed are those invited (keklēmenoi) to the wedding supper of the Lamb.'

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.