What does κλητός (klētós) mean in the Bible?
G2822 is an adjective meaning called or invited. The current witness assigns it ten occurrences: seven in Romans and 1 Corinthians, plus one each in Matthew, Jude, and Revelation.
Greek · G2822
κλητός
Called
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κλητός G2822
Pronunciation klētós
What does κλητός (klētós) mean in the Bible?
G2822 is an adjective meaning called or invited. The current witness assigns it ten occurrences: seven in Romans and 1 Corinthians, plus one each in Matthew, Jude, and Revelation.
Reader summary
Full entry for κλητός (G2822) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2822?
The BSB source-word alignment has 10 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include called (5), called [to be] (2), [and] called (1), [and] called to be (1), are called (1).
Where does κλητός (klētós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 22:14. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (4), 1 Corinthians (3), Jude (1), Matthew (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2822 is an adjective meaning called or invited. The current witness assigns it ten occurrences: seven in Romans and 1 Corinthians, plus one each in Matthew, Jude, and Revelation. Romans and 1 Corinthians use it for Paul as a called apostle and for believers as those called to belong to Jesus Christ or called to be holy. First Corinthians 1:24 contrasts the message of Christ crucified as God's power and wisdom to those who are called. Matthew 22:14 concludes the wedding-banquet parable with many called and few chosen. Jude addresses called people who are loved and kept, while Revelation 17:14 describes those with the Lamb as called, chosen, and faithful.
The adjective should not be turned into a private career slogan. Its referent and force come from each sentence: invitation in a parable, apostolic appointment, communal identity, saving summons, or description of the Lamb's companions.
How the Bible Uses It
G2822 describes people as called or invited. Romans and 1 Corinthians account for seven forms; Matthew's banquet parable, Jude's address, and Revelation's description of the Lamb's companions supply the other three settings.
- 1Cor.1.1
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
Paul introduces himself as a called apostle of Christ Jesus and immediately locates that appointment in the will of God. The adjective describes apostolic appointment here.
- Rom.1.1
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—
Romans joins Paul's call as an apostle with his service to Christ and separation for God's gospel. The surrounding clauses define what his calling concerns.
- 1Cor.1.2
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:
Paul addresses the Corinthian believers as sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy. G2822 contributes to communal identity rather than apostolic office in this verse.
Passage context
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 called 5× Matthew 22:14, Romans 1:6, Romans 8:28, Jude 1:1
called [to be] 2× Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1
[and] called 1× 1 Corinthians 1:2
[and] called to be 1× Romans 1:7
are called 1× 1 Corinthians 1:24
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 22:14 κλητοὶ to called Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural Romans 1:1 κλητὸς to called [to be] Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular Romans 1:6 κλητοὶ to called Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural Romans 1:7 κλητοῖς to [and] called to be Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural Romans 8:28 κλητοῖς to called Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural 1 Corinthians 1:1 κλητὸς to called [to be] Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1 Corinthians 1:2 κλητοῖς to [and] called Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural 1 Corinthians 1:24 κλητοῖς to are called Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural Jude 1:1 κλητοῖς to called Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural Revelation 17:14 κλητοὶ to called Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 22:14
Aligned rows 10
Books represented 5
Matthew 1 Romans 4 1 Corinthians 3 Jude 1 Revelation 1
Source forms
κλητοῖς 5x klētois Romans 1:7, Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Corinthians 1:24
κλητοὶ 3x klētoi Matthew 22:14, Romans 1:6, Revelation 17:14
κλητὸς 2x klētos Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural 5x Romans 1:7, Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Corinthians 1:24
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 3x Matthew 22:14, Romans 1:6, Revelation 17:14
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 2x Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let 1Cor.1.1 set the first boundary for teaching G2822.
- Compare the cited passages before turning the word into a broad doctrinal claim.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not turn called into a guarantee that every personal ambition carries God's appointment. Identify the caller, people, and purpose stated in the passage.
- Do not collapse parable invitation, apostolic appointment, holy identity, and faithfulness with the Lamb into one undifferentiated claim.
Passage contextPastoral applicationCanonical paralleltheological_synthesis
Evidence Summary
Greek word. In NT, exclusively denotes God's effectual summons to salvation or office, not mere invitation.
Strong's G2822
Lexical occurrences 10 verses Greek text appearances 11 times Word forms 3 forms 10 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Romans 1:1-7 Source Gloss
called
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
11 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 20:16 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
κλητοί, klhtoi
called, summoned
Read verse Matthew 22:14 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
κλητοί, klhtoi
called, summoned
Read verse Romans 1:1 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
κλητὸς klhtov
called, summoned
Read verse Romans 1:6 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
κλητοὶ klhtoi
called, summoned
Read verse Romans 1:7 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
κλητοῖς klhtoiv
called, summoned
Read verse Romans 8:28 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
κλητοῖς klhtoiv
called, summoned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 1:1 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
κλητὸς klhtov
called, summoned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 1:2 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
κλητοῖς klhtoiv
called, summoned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 1:24 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
κλητοῖς, klhtoiv
called, summoned
Read verse Jude 1:1 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
κλητοῖς· klhtoiv
called, summoned
Read verse Revelation 17:14 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
κλητοὶ klhtoi
called, summoned
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 3 Aligned forms 10 Case pattern Dative (5) Number pattern Plural (8)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Matt 22:14 · Rom 1:6 · Rev 17:14 3×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Rom 1:1 · 1 Cor 1:1 2×
Dative · Plural · Masculine Rom 1:7 · Rom 8:28 · 1 Cor 1:2 · 1 Cor 1:24 · Jude 1:1 5×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
apostle called to office; saints called to salvation through Christ
apostle called to office; believers called to be saints through divine calling
Christ as divine power and wisdom to those called by God
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 10 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
κλητός is built from this root:
For the Preacher and Teacher
G2822 asks teachers to identify who is called, by whom, and within what kind of passage. Paul can be called as an apostle, believers can be called to belong to Christ and to be holy, and the called can encounter Christ crucified as God's power and wisdom. Matthew places called language at the end of a banquet parable, while Jude and Revelation use it within descriptions of God's people.
These are related but not interchangeable claims. The adjective does not turn every personal desire into divine vocation, and it does not make invitation, appointment, communal identity, and final faithfulness identical. Responsible teaching lets the sentence establish the referent before drawing a theology of calling from the broader witness.
Anchor passage
1Cor.1.1
Doctrinal connections
- 1Cor.1.1 - Paul's description as a called apostle connects appointment to Christ Jesus and God's will.
- Rom.1.1 - Paul's call to apostleship stands beside his service to Christ and separation for God's gospel.
- 1Cor.1.2 - The church is addressed as sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, extending called language to communal identity.
- Matt.22.14 - The wedding-banquet conclusion distinguishes those called from those chosen, keeping parable invitation distinct from Paul's address language.
The governed witness uses G2822 as a masculine adjective: five dative plural, three nominative plural, and two nominative singular forms. The adjective modifies or identifies people; the surrounding construction determines whether the setting emphasizes invitation, appointment, identity, or participation.
From Old to New Testament
The Pauline use of G2822 should be joined to larger biblical theology only through the cited passages and their own contexts. This keeps called from becoming a free-floating doctrinal shortcut.
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