Greek word · G4779

συγκαλέω

synkaleō

to call together

To call together, convene, summon a group. It is used of a host gathering guests, a leader gathering followers, or officials convening a council.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

συν-καλέω

(Rec. συγκ-), -ῶ, [in LXX for קָרָא ;]

to call together: with accusative, Mark 15:16, Luke 15:6, 9 (seel. -εῖται, see B1., § 55, 1), Acts 5:21. Mid., to call together to oneself: Luke 9:1 (and seel. in Luke 15:6, 9 see supr.) Luke 23:13, Acts 10:24 28:17.†

(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 Luke 15:6

Range of meaning

To call together, convene, summon a group. It is used of a host gathering guests, a leader gathering followers, or officials convening a council.

Against the English

"Calls together" is accurate. What English readers may miss is that in a village, calling the community together over good news normally meant hospitality, food and a celebration.

Used elsewhere in the period

Luke uses it more than any other New Testament writer: Luke 9:1 (Jesus calls the Twelve together), 15:9 (the woman, using the same verb), 23:13 (Pilate convenes the leaders), Acts 5:21, 10:24 (Cornelius gathers relatives and close friends), 28:17. It is common in Greek of the period for convening assemblies.

Similar words

Where it appears

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 15:16 συγκαλοῦσιν they call together

    Then the soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called the whole company together.

Luke · 4

  1. Luke 9:1 Συγκαλεσάμενος Having called together

    Then Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and power to cure diseases.

    Here: An aorist middle participle, meaning 'having called them together to himself'. The middle voice suggests Jesus summoning them to his own side: a gathering before a commissioning. Luke uses the same verb for formal assemblies (Luke 15:6, 9; 23:13; Acts 5:21).

  2. Luke 15:6 συγκαλεῖ he calls together

    comes home, and calls together his friends and neighbors to tell them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’

    Here: "He calls together." The present tense keeps going with the "which of you would not…?" question in verse 4. It describes what any ordinary man would naturally do. Gathering people this way often goes with hosting, so a shared celebration is implied.

  3. Luke 15:9 συγκαλεῖ she calls together

    And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin.’

  4. Luke 23:13 συγκαλεσάμενος having called together

    Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,

Acts · 3

  1. Acts 5:21 συνεκάλεσαν they called together

    At daybreak the apostles entered the temple courts as they had been told and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles.

  2. Acts 10:24 συγκαλεσάμενος having called together

    The following day he arrived in Caesarea, where Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

  3. Acts 28:17 συγκαλέσασθαι calling together

    After three days, he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, I was taken prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

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