What Does Luke 1:62 Mean in the King James?

And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.

Luke 1:62 · KJV

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 room asks a father for the child’s name because a name carries more than a sound to assign.

THE MEANING

People around the child make signs to his father, asking what he wants the child called. The moment shows how naming gathers intention and identity into a word before the child can speak for himself.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A child’s name is only a label, so who speaks it and what it carries do not matter.

THE ROOT

καλεῖσθαι

kaleisthai

GROWS FROM

καλέω

kaleō

to call, summon, or name

English “called” can sound like a tag applied to a child, but ⁨καλέω⁩ holds both summoning and naming. The verse asks what identity is to be spoken in the child’s name, not merely which sound the room prefers.

ALSO GROWS

klēsis: calling, invitation

κλῆσις

This related word carries the sense of being called toward a role or place; here, naming gives the child an identity that reaches beyond a sound.

klētos: called, invited

κλητός

This form describes someone as called; it echoes the verse’s question about what the child is to be called.

THE PATTERN

A name can carry an identity entrusted before the people around it recognize it.

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

Genesis 17:19 · KJVIsaac’s name is given alongside a promise, so the name carries meaning beyond an identifying label.

And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

Isaiah 62:2 · KJVThe new name comes from the LORD’s mouth, expressing an identity that others have not yet recognized.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1:21 · KJVThe name Jesus is joined to his work of deliverance, so the name itself points to what he brings.

THE THREAD

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

Luke 1:13 · KJV

The same Greek verb, ⁨καλέω⁩, appears here as a direct instruction: Zechariah is told he will call the child John. In verse 62, the people around him ask what the child is to be called, and the next verse reveals that the name has already been given.

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