What Does Hebrews 11:18 Mean in the King James?
Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Greek verb behind “called” holds naming and summoning together, making Isaac the named path through which the promise’s future is recognized.
THE MEANING
When you meet this promise, its future has a named path: the seed is called in Isaac. Inheritance appears as continuity carried by promise through a particular life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A claim to the promise follows automatically from ancestry; this verse names Isaac as the line through which its seed is called.
THE ROOT
κληθήσεται
klēthēsetai
GROWS FROM
καλέω
To call, summon, or name.
Hebrews uses κληθήσεται (klēthēsetai, “will be called”), a future passive form of καλέω (kaleō, “to call or name”). The word can carry both naming and summons, so Isaac is the named locus where the promise’s seed is recognized and continues.
ALSO GROWS
kaleō: To call, summon, or name.
καλέω
The verb’s range lets “called” mark how the promise’s line is named and recognized.
klēsis: Calling or invitation.
κλῆσις
This branch keeps the sense of a summons within the verse’s language of being called.
klētos: Called or invited.
κλητός
It shows how the same word family can describe someone identified through a call.
σπέρμα
sperma
GROWS FROM
σπειρ-
To sow; that which is sown.
The Greek noun can mean both seed and offspring, a future carried forward. Its sowing-family makes the promise generative: the line continues through Isaac.
ALSO GROWS
speirō: To sow.
σπείρω
The seed in the verse belongs to a word family about what is sown and carried into the future.
spora: Sowing or seed.
σπορά
This related form keeps together the seed itself and the act by which it is spread.
יִצְחָק
Yitzḥaq
GROWS FROM
צחק
To laugh.
Isaac’s Hebrew name carries laughter. The same consonants can describe laughing or mocking, letting the name hold the promise’s joy alongside the painful contest over who carries it.
ALSO GROWS
tseḥoq: Laughter.
צְחוֹק
The name Isaac echoes laughter, giving the promised line a sound of joy.
metzaḥeq: Laughing, playing, or mocking.
מְצַחֵק
The same root can carry a more troubled edge, exposing the tension around the promise’s inheritance.
THE PATTERN
The promise carries its future through a named line of belonging.
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.THE THREAD
Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.Romans 9:7 repeats both Greek hinge words from this verse: σπέρμα (sperma, “seed”) and κληθήσεται (klēthēsetai, “shall be called”). The repeated phrase makes the call’s force visible: Isaac names the line through which Abraham’s promised seed is recognized.
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