Quick Definition
κλῆσις, εως, ἡ n.f. a calling, summons
Strong's Definition
from a shorter form of 2564; an invitation (figuratively)
KJV Usage: calling
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -εως | καλέω
33.312 · Communication · Call
to call, to call to a task to urgently invite someone to accept responsibilities for a particular task, implying a new relationship to the one who does the calling It is rare that one can translate καλέω[d], κλῆσις[a], and προσκαλέω[b] as simply ‘to call’ in the sense of ‘to speak to someone at a distance and tell them to come.’ For example, in 2TH 2:14 it may be necessary to render the above clause as ‘through the good news we preached, which summoned you to do this.’ Similarly, in ACT 16:10 one may translate ‘because God has urgently invited us to preach the good news to the people there.’
ROM 11:29 · EPH 1:18 · EPH 4:4 · PHP 3:14 · HEB 3:1 · 2PE 1:10
33.313 · Communication · Call
calling the state of having been called to a particular task and/or relation As in the case of καλέω[d], κλῆσις[a], and προσκαλέω[b] (33.312), it may be entirely impossible to use a term in a receptor language which means literally ‘to call.’ Therefore, it may be necessary to translate EPH 4:1 as ‘I ask you then ... live worthy of the responsibility which God has urgently invited you to accept’ or ‘... live worthy of the task which God has given you to do.’
87.2 · Status · Position, Rank
station, role the station in life or social role which one has In this context, κλῆσις refers to the status or role of being either a slave or a free person. In a number of languages this expression in 1CO 7:20 can be best translated as ‘everyone should continue to be the same kind of person that he was when he was called.’ Such an expression must, of course, refer to one’s position in society and in the total social structure, not to particular aspects of moral or immoral behavior.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
κλῆσις, -εως. 7, (καλέω) ; {(Xen., Plat., al.)]. 1. a calling, calling to, 2. a call, invitation: to a feast KANTOS (3 Mace. v. 14; Xen. symp. 1, 7); in the N. T. everywhere in a technical sense, the divine invitation to embrace salvation in the kingdom of God, which is made esp. through the preaching of the gospel: with gen. of the author, rod θεοῦ, Eph. i. 18; ἀμεταμέλ. .. . ἡ KA. τοῦ θεοῦ, God does not repent of the invitation to salvation, which he decided of old to give to the people of Israel, and which he promised their fathers (i. e. the patriarchs), Ro. xi. 29; ἡ ἄνω [q. v. (a.)] κλῆσις τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ, which was made in heaven by God on the ground of Christ, Phil. iii. 14; also ἡ ἐπουράνιος κλῆσις, Heb. iii. 1; καλεῖν τινα κλήσει, 2 Tim. i. 9; pass. Eph. iv. 1; ἀξιοῦν τινα κλήσεως is used of one whom God declares worthy of the calling which he has commanded to be given him, and therefore fit to obtain the blessings promised in the call, 2 Th. i. 11; w. gen. of the obj., ὑμῶν, which ye have shared in, Eph. iv. 4; 2 Pet. i. 10; what its characteristics have been in your case, as having no regard to learning, riches, station, ete. 1 Co. i. 26; used somewhat peculiarly, of the condition in which the calling finds one, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or freeman, 1 Co. vii. 20.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
κλῆσις klēsis 11x
a call, calling, invitation; in NT the call or invitation to the privileges of the Gospel, Rom. 11:29; Eph. 1:18; the favor and privilege of the invitation, 2 Thess. 1:11; 2 Pet. 1:10; the temporal condition in which the call found a person, 1 Cor. 1:26; 7:20
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
κλῆσις, -εως, ἡ (καλέω),
[in LXX: Je 38 (31):6 (קרא), Jth 12:10 A, III Mac 5:14*;]
a calling, call; in NT, always of the Divine call to salvation: Ro 11:29, I Co 1:26 7:20, Eph 1:18 4:1, 4, Phl 3:14, II Th 1:11, II Ti 1:9, He 3:1, II Pe 1:10 (Cremer, 332).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
κλῆσις. A section of the long legal P Hal I. 1 (mid. iii/B.c.) is headed—**2 His μαρτ[υρί]αν κλῆσις, ‘a call to witness” : then follows a description of the process. The word is used in the same restricted sense in Epict. i. 29. 49 ταῦτα μέλλεις μαρτυρεῖν καὶ καταισχύνειν τὴν κλῆσιν ἣν κέκληκεν [ὃ θεός] ; cf. 2. /.c. 46 ὡς μαρτὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κεκλημένος, and see further Bonhiffer Zfic¢. pp. 37 ff., 207f. The meaning is raised to a higher power in such passages as Eph 4}, where, as always in the NT, κλῆσις is the divine call to salvation. In the sepulchral epitaph of a young child, Fatbel 5714 (i/ii A.p.), the word is used = ‘‘ name ”—— Φιλησίη τὴν κλῆσιν, Αὐσονὶς γένος. And in the magical Ρ Leid V ᾽χ.80 (iii/iv a.p.) (ΞΞ 11. p. 33) τελοῦντος δέ cov, καθ᾽ ἑκάστην κλῆσιν ἐπίσπενδε τὰ προκείμενα, the editor (p. 68) understands by καθ᾽ ἑκ. KX. ‘ad singulas invocationes, i.e. quotiescumque haec invocatio pronuntiabitur.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
κλῆσις (klēsis) — calling. κλῆσις, εως, ἡ, (καλέω) calling, call, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. calling into court, summons, prosecution, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
3. invitation to a feast, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
4. invocation, θεῶν[Refs 5th c.BC+]
5. calling to aid, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
6. calling in a religious sense, [NT]
II. name, appellation, [Refs 5th c.BC+]by name, [Refs]; reputation, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III. Grammars, αἱ κ. τῶν ὀνομάτων the nominatives, opposed to αἱ πτώσεις (the oblique cases), [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἔχειν θηλείας ἢ ἄρρενος κλῆσιν the nominative form of.., [Refs]
IV. = Latin classis, [Refs 1st c.BC+]