Every Election
Every occurrence of the election word family in two languages across three texts: the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the Greek of the Septuagint the apostles read, and the Greek of the New. 247 occurrences, 159 of them with God as the one choosing, every row classified and every stated purpose quoted in the text's own words.
This is the table behind There Is No Calvinist Election in the Bible. Every count in that essay is a count from this page. Nothing here is a summary of a source; every row was read.
Method
Hebrew from STEPBible TAHOT: bachar H977, bachir H972, mibchar H4005. Greek New Testament from STEPBible TAGNT, counted on the Textus Receptus, the text underlying the King James: eklegomai G1586, eklektos G1588, ekloge G1589, syneklektos G4899. Greek Old Testament from Swete's Septuagint, restricted to the books the King James carries. Both STEPBible texts are CC BY 4.0. English throughout is the King James Version.
One question was asked of every row where God is the one choosing: is the stated object or purpose of this choosing the salvation of the one chosen, with no role, character, task, people or means named alongside it? A row that answered yes would be marked D. The categories are P for a person chosen to an office or task, N for a nation or people, C for Christ, A for angels, L for a place or thing, R for a remnant inside the people, T for the elect of the Olivet discourse, and U for unclassifiable.
The D-row question, as the specification set it
“THE D-ROW QUESTION, asked of every row: is the stated object or purpose of this choosing the salvation of the one chosen, with no role, character, task, people, or means named alongside it? If any row is a D, report it in full. Do not assume the answer.”
The classification scheme in full
| Code | Definition |
|---|---|
| P | Person chosen to an office or task (Moses, David, Saul, Aaron, the twelve, Paul, the Rufus commendation). |
| N | Nation or people chosen as a people (Israel, the Church, “chosen generation”). |
| C | Christ as the Chosen One (Isaiah 42:1; Luke 23:35; 1 Peter 2:4, 2:6). |
| A | Angels (1 Timothy 5:21). |
| L | Place or thing (Jerusalem, the temple site, “the place which the LORD shall choose,” Zion). |
| R | Remnant inside the people (Romans 11:5, 11:7, read with 11:20 and 11:23). |
| T | The tribulation or Olivet “elect” (Matthew 24, Mark 13). |
| D | The hunt: object or purpose stated as the salvation of the chosen, with no role, character, task, people or means alongside. |
| U | Unclassifiable, with the reason given. |
The bachar subject split
All 171 bachar occurrences were split three ways before any classification: (a) God is the one choosing, 100 occurrences, which is the census proper; (b) a man is the one choosing, 47 occurrences, kept as the response side and tabled separately because the same verb runs both directions; (c)the Qal passive participle used adjectivally for “choice” or “chosen” with no chooser named at all, 24 occurrences, tabled and excluded from the hunt. Only (a) rows carry a category. Where a single verse holds two occurrences the rows are suffixed a and b, and each is classified on its own object.
The prophets, and how the Septuagint was handled
The Septuagint pass covers Swete's text restricted to the books the King James carries, prophets included, with Daniel taken from Theodotion. It is reported as a separate layer rather than folded into the totals, because the Greek Old Testament renders more than one Hebrew word with eklektos: all 13 bachir rows render as eklektos, and the other 68 verses render mibchar, bachur, bachan or the adjectival bachar. Those 68 are what show the word's ordinary range, and they are counted and described but not classified, since God is not the one choosing in them. One corpus gap is recorded rather than smoothed over: this Swete set has no Ecclesiastes file. Ecclesiastes contributes no bachar rows in Hebrew, so no census row is lost.
One column in the downloadable CSV is a class rather than a hand annotation, and is marked here so no one mistakes it for more than it is: objectgives the object class implied by the row's category, except for the bachir rows, where the dataset names the object itself. The stated purposecolumn is quoted from the verse, and reads “none stated” where no purpose clause governs the choosing.
1. The Strong's number for the noun was wrong.The census began with G1587 for ekloge. G1587 is ekleipo, “to fail,” and its four occurrences are Luke 16:9, 22:32, 23:45 and Hebrews 1:12. The noun “election” is G1589. The census was rerun on G1589.
2. A reference filter silently dropped six books.The first pass required a reference to begin with a capital letter, which excluded every book whose abbreviation starts with a digit: 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles. Those are precisely the books where “the LORD hath chosen” clusters. The bad count was 110 bachar occurrences. The corrected count is 171.
3. The Septuagint book list omitted the prophets. The first Septuagint pass ran on the Law and the Writings only, missing Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Lamentations, Daniel and the twelve, which is where eklektos clusters. The bad count was 48 eklektos occurrences. The corrected count is 84.
All three are recorded because each one produced a confident wrong number before it was caught, and a reader checking this table is entitled to know where the count has already been corrected once.
Counts
| Language / word | Occurrences | God as subject | D rows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew bachar H977 | 171 | 100 | 0 |
| Hebrew bachir H972 | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| Hebrew mibchar H4005 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Hebrew total | 196 | 113 | 0 |
| Greek eklegomai G1586 | 20 (TR) | 15 | 0 |
| Greek eklektos G1588 | 23 (TR) | 23 | 0 |
| Greek ekloge G1589 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Greek syneklektos G4899 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Greek NT total | 51 | 46 | 0 |
| LXX eklektos / eklegomai / ekloge | 205 | (13 bachir + bachar renderings) | 0 |
**Per category, God-as-subject, Hebrew + Greek NT (159 rows):**
L 52 | P 43 | N 50 | C 4 | A 1 | T 7 | R 2 | U 0 | **D 0** (sums to 159)
Textual notes carried in the counts:
eklegomai: 22 TAGNT occurrences minus Luke 9:35 and Acts 15:25, both absent from the TR. The KJV therefore
has no 'chosen one' at the Transfiguration.
eklektos: 24 TAGNT occurrences minus Luke 14:24, Byz-only.
Matthew 20:16 'for many be called, but few chosen' IS in the TR (Treg+TR+Byz), absent from
NA28/NA27/Tyn/SBL/WH. The KJV carries the saying twice.
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The twelve tables
Wide tables scroll sideways inside their own frame. Printing this page flattens them.
TABLE A. bachar H977, God as subject: 100 occurrences
| # | Ref | Cat | Stated purpose | KJV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Chronicles 15:2 | P | to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever | Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever. |
| 2 | 1 Chronicles 28:4b | N | to be the ruler | Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my fathe |
| 3 | 1 Chronicles 28:4a | P | to be king over Israel for ever | Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my fathe |
| 4 | 1 Chronicles 28:5 | P | to sit upon the throne of the kingdom | And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. |
| 5 | 1 Chronicles 28:6 | P | to be my son | And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. |
| 6 | 1 Chronicles 28:10 | P | to build an house for the sanctuary | Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it. |
| 7 | 1 Chronicles 29:1 | P | none stated | Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God. |
| 8 | 1 Kings 3:8 | N | none stated | And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. |
| 9 | 1 Kings 8:16b | P | to be over my people Israel | Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. |
| 10 | 1 Kings 8:16a | L | to build an house, that my name might be therein (negated: 'I chose no city') | Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. |
| 11 | 1 Kings 8:44 | L | none stated | If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: |
| 12 | 1 Kings 8:48 | L | none stated | And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast |
| 13 | 1 Kings 11:13 | L | none stated | Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen. |
| 14 | 1 Kings 11:32 | L | none stated | (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) |
| 15 | 1 Kings 11:34 | P | none stated | Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes: |
| 16 | 1 Kings 11:36 | L | none stated | And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. |
| 17 | 1 Kings 14:21 | L | to put his name there | And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put |
| 18 | 1 Samuel 2:28 | P | to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me | And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the childre |
| 19 | 1 Samuel 10:24 | P | none stated | And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. |
| 20 | 1 Samuel 16:8 | P | none stated | Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. |
| 21 | 1 Samuel 16:9 | P | none stated | Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. |
| 22 | 1 Samuel 16:10 | P | none stated | Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. |
| 23 | 2 Chronicles 6:5b | P | to be a ruler over my people Israel (negated: 'neither chose I any man') | Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: |
| 24 | 2 Chronicles 6:5a | L | to build an house in, that my name might be there (negated: 'I chose no city') | Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: |
| 25 | 2 Chronicles 6:6b | P | to be over my people Israel | But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. |
| 26 | 2 Chronicles 6:6a | L | that my name might be there | But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. |
| 27 | 2 Chronicles 6:34 | L | none stated | If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; |
| 28 | 2 Chronicles 6:38 | L | none stated | If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city whi |
| 29 | 2 Chronicles 7:12 | L | for an house of sacrifice | And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. |
| 30 | 2 Chronicles 7:16 | L | that my name may be there for ever | For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. |
| 31 | 2 Chronicles 12:13 | L | to put his name there | So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribe |
| 32 | 2 Chronicles 29:11 | P | to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense | My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense. |
| 33 | 2 Chronicles 33:7 | L | none stated | And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my |
| 34 | 2 Kings 21:7 | L | none stated | And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name fo |
| 35 | 2 Kings 23:27 | L | none stated | And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. |
| 36 | 2 Samuel 6:21 | P | to appoint me ruler over the people | And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. |
| 37 | 2 Samuel 16:18 | P | none stated | And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide. |
| 38 | Deuteronomy 4:37 | N | none stated | And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; |
| 39 | Deuteronomy 7:6 | N | to be a special people unto himself | For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. |
| 40 | Deuteronomy 7:7 | N | none stated | The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: |
| 41 | Deuteronomy 10:15 | N | none stated | Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. |
| 42 | Deuteronomy 12:5 | L | to put his name there | But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: |
| 43 | Deuteronomy 12:11 | L | to cause his name to dwell there | Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of yo |
| 44 | Deuteronomy 12:14 | L | none stated | But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. |
| 45 | Deuteronomy 12:18 | L | none stated | But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt |
| 46 | Deuteronomy 12:21 | L | to put his name there | If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gat |
| 47 | Deuteronomy 12:26 | L | none stated | Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose: |
| 48 | Deuteronomy 14:2 | N | to be a peculiar people unto himself | for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. |
| 49 | Deuteronomy 14:23 | L | to place his name there | And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest lear |
| 50 | Deuteronomy 14:24 | L | to set his name there | And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: |
| 51 | Deuteronomy 14:25 | L | none stated | Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: |
| 52 | Deuteronomy 15:20 | L | none stated | Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household. |
| 53 | Deuteronomy 16:2 | L | to place his name there | Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there. |
| 54 | Deuteronomy 16:6 | L | to place his name in | But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. |
| 55 | Deuteronomy 16:7 | L | none stated | And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. |
| 56 | Deuteronomy 16:11 | L | to place his name there | And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are a |
| 57 | Deuteronomy 16:15 | L | none stated | Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt s |
| 58 | Deuteronomy 16:16 | L | none stated | Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear b |
| 59 | Deuteronomy 17:8 | L | none stated | If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the p |
| 60 | Deuteronomy 17:10 | L | none stated | And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: |
| 61 | Deuteronomy 17:15 | P | none stated | Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. |
| 62 | Deuteronomy 18:5 | P | to stand to minister in the name of the LORD | For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever. |
| 63 | Deuteronomy 18:6 | L | none stated | And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall choose; |
| 64 | Deuteronomy 21:5 | P | to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD | And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: |
| 65 | Deuteronomy 26:2 | L | to place his name there | That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose t |
| 66 | Deuteronomy 31:11 | L | none stated | When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. |
| 67 | Ezekiel 20:5 | N | none stated | And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, s |
| 68 | Haggai 2:23 | P | none stated | In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts. |
| 69 | Isaiah 14:1 | N | none stated | For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. |
| 70 | Isaiah 41:8 | N | none stated | But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. |
| 71 | Isaiah 41:9 | N | none stated | Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. |
| 72 | Isaiah 43:10 | N | that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me | Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. |
| 73 | Isaiah 44:1 | N | none stated | Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: |
| 74 | Isaiah 44:2 | N | none stated | Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. |
| 75 | Isaiah 48:10 | N | none stated | Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. |
| 76 | Isaiah 49:7 | N | none stated | Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is |
| 77 | Isaiah 58:5 | L | none stated | Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? |
| 78 | Isaiah 58:6 | L | none stated | Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? |
| 79 | Isaiah 66:4a | L | their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them (judicial answer to their own choosing) | I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. |
| 80 | Jeremiah 33:24 | N | none stated | Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. |
| 81 | Joshua 9:27 | L | none stated | And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose. |
| 82 | Nehemiah 1:9 | L | to set my name there | But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to s |
| 83 | Nehemiah 9:7 | P | none stated | Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; |
| 84 | Numbers 16:5 | P | none stated | And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. |
| 85 | Numbers 16:7 | P | none stated | And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. |
| 86 | Numbers 17:5 | P | none stated | And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. |
| 87 | Psalms 25:12 | L | none stated | What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. |
| 88 | Psalms 33:12 | N | for his own inheritance | Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. |
| 89 | Psalms 47:4 | L | none stated | He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah. |
| 90 | Psalms 65:4 | P | that he may dwell in thy courts | Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. |
| 91 | Psalms 78:67 | N | none stated | Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: |
| 92 | Psalms 78:68 | N | none stated | But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. |
| 93 | Psalms 78:70 | P | none stated | He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: |
| 94 | Psalms 89:19 | P | none stated | Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. |
| 95 | Psalms 105:26 | P | none stated | He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. |
| 96 | Psalms 132:13 | L | for his habitation | For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. |
| 97 | Psalms 135:4 | N | for his peculiar treasure | For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. |
| 98 | Zechariah 1:17 | L | none stated | Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. |
| 99 | Zechariah 2:12 | L | none stated | And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. |
| 100 | Zechariah 3:2 | L | none stated | And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? |
**Provenance of the purpose column:** clauses are extracted from the KJV verse by pattern match and
then hand-corrected for the nine rows where a verse carries two bachar occurrences. 'none stated' means no
purpose clause governs the choosing in that verse; the full KJV text is printed alongside so every
reading is checkable. 66 of the 171 rows carry no stated purpose.
TABLE B. bachar H977, MAN as subject: 47 occurrences (the response side)
| # | Ref | KJV |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Chronicles 19:10a | Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians. |
| 2 | 1 Chronicles 21:10 | Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. |
| 3 | 1 Kings 18:23 | Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire unde |
| 4 | 1 Kings 18:25 | And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. |
| 5 | 1 Samuel 8:18 | And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. |
| 6 | 1 Samuel 12:13 | Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you. |
| 7 | 1 Samuel 13:2 | Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. |
| 8 | 1 Samuel 17:40 | And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. |
| 9 | 1 Samuel 20:30 | Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s n |
| 10 | 2 Samuel 10:9a | When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: |
| 11 | 2 Samuel 15:15 | And the king’s servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint. |
| 12 | 2 Samuel 17:1 | Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: |
| 13 | 2 Samuel 19:38 | And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee. |
| 14 | 2 Samuel 24:12 | Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. |
| 15 | Deuteronomy 23:16 | He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him. |
| 16 | Deuteronomy 30:19 | I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: |
| 17 | Exodus 17:9 | And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. |
| 18 | Exodus 18:25 | And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. |
| 19 | Genesis 6:2 | That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. |
| 20 | Genesis 13:11 | Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. |
| 21 | Isaiah 1:29 | For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. |
| 22 | Isaiah 7:15 | Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. |
| 23 | Isaiah 7:16 | For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. |
| 24 | Isaiah 40:20 | He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. |
| 25 | Isaiah 41:24 | Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you. |
| 26 | Isaiah 56:4 | For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; |
| 27 | Isaiah 65:12 | Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted |
| 28 | Isaiah 66:3 | He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they ha |
| 29 | Isaiah 66:4b | I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. |
| 30 | Jeremiah 8:3 | And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts. |
| 31 | Job 7:15 | So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. |
| 32 | Job 9:14 | How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him? |
| 33 | Job 15:5 | For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. |
| 34 | Job 29:25 | I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners. |
| 35 | Job 34:4 | Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. |
| 36 | Job 34:33 | Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest. |
| 37 | Job 36:21 | Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction. |
| 38 | Joshua 8:3 | So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. |
| 39 | Joshua 24:15 | And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but |
| 40 | Joshua 24:22 | And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. |
| 41 | Judges 5:8 | They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? |
| 42 | Judges 10:14 | Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. |
| 43 | Proverbs 1:29 | For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: |
| 44 | Proverbs 3:31 | Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. |
| 45 | Psalms 84:10 | For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. |
| 46 | Psalms 119:30 | I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. |
| 47 | Psalms 119:173 | Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. |
TABLE C. bachar H977, adjectival 'choice/chosen', no chooser named: 24 occurrences
| # | Ref | KJV |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Chronicles 19:10b | Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians. |
| 2 | 1 Kings 12:21 | And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house |
| 3 | 1 Samuel 24:2 | Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. |
| 4 | 1 Samuel 26:2 | Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. |
| 5 | 2 Chronicles 11:1 | And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring |
| 6 | 2 Chronicles 13:3a | And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, |
| 7 | 2 Chronicles 13:3b | And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, |
| 8 | 2 Chronicles 13:17 | And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. |
| 9 | 2 Chronicles 25:5 | Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbere |
| 10 | 2 Samuel 6:1 | Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. |
| 11 | 2 Samuel 10:9b | When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: |
| 12 | Exodus 14:7 | And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. |
| 13 | Jeremiah 49:19 | Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over |
| 14 | Jeremiah 50:44 | Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over he |
| 15 | Judges 20:15 | And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men. |
| 16 | Judges 20:16 | Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. |
| 17 | Judges 20:34 | And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them. |
| 18 | Proverbs 8:10 | Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. |
| 19 | Proverbs 8:19 | My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. |
| 20 | Proverbs 10:20 | The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth. |
| 21 | Proverbs 16:16 | How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! |
| 22 | Proverbs 21:3 | To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. |
| 23 | Proverbs 22:1 | A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. |
| 24 | Song of Solomon 5:15 | His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. |
---
TABLE D. bachir H972, the noun 'chosen one': 13 occurrences, all God-as-subject
| Ref | Object | Cat | KJV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah 42:1 | the Servant | C | Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. |
| Isaiah 43:20 | Israel | N | The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. |
| Isaiah 45:4 | Israel (spoken to Cyrus) | N | For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. |
| Isaiah 65:9 | Israel | N | And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. |
| Isaiah 65:15 | Israel | N | And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name: |
| Isaiah 65:22 | Israel | N | They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. |
| Psalms 89:3 | David | P | I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, |
| Psalms 105:6 | Israel | N | O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. |
| Psalms 105:43 | Israel | N | And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: |
| Psalms 106:5 | Israel | N | That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance. |
| Psalms 106:23 | Moses | P | Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. |
| 2 Samuel 21:6 | Saul | P | Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them. |
| 1 Chronicles 16:13 | Israel | N | O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. |
TABLE E. mibchar H4005 'choicest': 12 occurrences, no divine subject, excluded from the D-hunt
| Ref | What is 'choice' |
|---|---|
| Genesis 23:6 | sepulchres |
| Exodus 15:4 | Pharaoh's captains |
| Deuteronomy 12:11 | vows |
| Isaiah 22:7 | valleys |
| Isaiah 37:24 | fir trees |
| Jeremiah 22:7 | cedars |
| Jeremiah 48:15 | Moab's young men |
| Ezekiel 23:7 | the chosen men of Assyria |
| Ezekiel 24:4 | bones |
| Ezekiel 24:5 | the flock |
| Ezekiel 31:16 | the choice and best of Lebanon |
| Daniel 11:15 | the king of the south's chosen troops |
---
TABLE F. Greek NT: ekloge G1589, the noun 'election'. 7 occurrences. NONE takes an object.
| Ref | Greek | Transliteration | Construction | Cat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acts 9:15 | σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς | skeuos ekloges | genitive of quality on σκεῦος; purpose infinitive attaches to the vessel | P |
| Romans 9:11 | ἡ κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις | he kat' eklogen prothesis | κατά+acc modifying πρόθεσις (purpose is the head noun) | N |
| Romans 11:5 | λεῖμμα κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν χάριτος | leimma kat' eklogen charitos | κατά+acc modifying λεῖμμα (remnant is the head noun) | R |
| Romans 11:7 | ἡ δὲ ἐκλογὴ ἐπέτυχεν | he de ekloge epetychen | nominative subject; abstract for concrete | R |
| Romans 11:28 | κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκλογὴν | kata de ten eklogen | κατά+acc adverbial, parallel to κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον | N |
| 1 Thessalonians 1:4 | τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν | ten eklogen hymon | acc. object of εἰδότες, 'knowing' | N |
| 2 Peter 1:10 | βεβαίαν ... τὴν κλῆσιν καὶ ἐκλογὴν ποιεῖσθαι | bebaian ... ten klesin kai eklogen poieisthai | acc. object of ποιεῖσθαι under an imperative | N |
TABLE G. eklegomai G1586: 20 TR occurrences / 18 verses. God or Christ subject in 15.
| Ref | Subject | Cat | Stated purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark 13:20 | God | T | none stated |
| Luke 6:13 | Jesus | P | named them apostles |
| John 6:70 | Jesus | P | none stated (Judas inside the choosing) |
| John 13:18 | Jesus | P | that the scripture may be fulfilled |
| John 15:16b | Jesus | P | that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain |
| John 15:19 | Jesus | P | therefore the world hateth you |
| Acts 1:2 | Jesus | P | none stated |
| Acts 1:24 | God | P | to take part of this ministry and apostleship |
| Acts 13:17 | God | N | none stated |
| Acts 15:7 | God | P | that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe |
| 1 Corinthians 1:27a | God | L | to confound the wise |
| 1 Corinthians 1:27b | God | L | to confound the things which are mighty |
| 1 Corinthians 1:28 | God | L | to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory |
| Ephesians 1:4 | God | N | that we should be holy and without blame before him in love |
| James 2:5 | God | N | rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom |
**Man as subject, 5:** Luke 10:42 (Mary 'hath chosen that good part'), Luke 14:7, John 15:16a (negated),
Acts 6:5, Acts 15:22.
TABLE H. eklektos G1588: 23 TR occurrences
| Ref | Cat | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew 20:16 | N | TR only (Treg+TR+Byz); absent NA28/WH/SBL/Tyn |
| Matthew 22:14 | N | 'chosen' enters AFTER the garmentless man is cast out |
| Matthew 24:22 | T | markers: Judaea, holy place, sabbath, Daniel |
| Matthew 24:24 | T | |
| Matthew 24:31 | T | gathered by angels from the four winds |
| Mark 13:20 | T | |
| Mark 13:22 | T | |
| Mark 13:27 | T | |
| Luke 18:7 | N | 'which cry day and night unto him' |
| Luke 23:35 | C | 'Christ, the chosen of God' |
| Romans 8:33 | N | after the chain, in a courtroom question |
| Romans 16:13 | P | Rufus, a commendation |
| Colossians 3:12 | N | ground of an imperative: 'Put on therefore' |
| 1 Timothy 5:21 | A | elect angels; salvation not in view |
| 2 Timothy 2:10 | N | closest D candidate; adjudicated: NOT a D |
| Titus 1:1 | N | 'the faith of God's elect' |
| 1 Peter 1:1 | N | 'strangers scattered' |
| 1 Peter 2:4 | C | a living stone |
| 1 Peter 2:6 | C | quoting Isa 28:16, where LXX has eklekton of a STONE |
| 1 Peter 2:9 | N | that ye should shew forth the praises |
| 2 John 1 | N | the elect lady |
| 2 John 13 | N | thy elect sister |
| Revelation 17:14 | N | called, and chosen, and faithful |
TABLE I. syneklektos G4899: 1. 1 Peter 5:13, 'elected together with you'. Cat N.
---
TABLE J. SEPTUAGINT (Swete), KJV-canon books
| Lemma | Occurrences | Verses | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| eklektos | 84 | 81 | 13 verses render bachir; the other 68 render mibchar/bachur/bachan/adjectival bachar |
| eklegomai | 121 | - | broader than Hebrew bachar; renders several selection verbs |
| ekloge | 0 | 0 | the noun 'election' does not exist in the Greek Old Testament |
All 13 Hebrew bachir render as eklektos, exact and complete: Isa 42:1, 43:20, 45:4, 65:9, 65:15,
65:22(LXX 65:23); Ps 89:3, 105:6, 105:43, 106:5, 106:23 (LXX 88:4, 104:6, 104:43, 105:5, 105:23);
2 Sam 21:6; 1 Chr 16:13. That is 13 of 81 verses, 16 percent.
What the other 68 attach to: Pharaoh's fat cows and full ears (Gen 41, six occurrences), the choice of the
sepulchres (Gen 23:6), Pharaoh's chosen chariots (Exo 14:7), choice myrrh (Exo 30:23), choice valleys
(Isa 22:7), a choice arrow (Isa 49:2 'as belos eklekton'), the corner stone (Isa 28:16), choice stones
(Isa 54:12), choice cedars (Jer 22:7), choice bones and the choice of the flock (Ezk 24:4-5), the chosen
men of Assyria (Ezk 23:7), the chosen troops of the south (Dan 11:15), the choice food of the Chaldean
(Hab 1:16), the choice things of all nations (Hag 2:7).
Isaiah 28:16 matters most: the LXX calls the corner stone eklekton, and 1 Peter 2:6 quotes that verse
when it calls Christ 'elect, precious.' The New Testament's clearest ascription of election to Christ
traces to a Greek Old Testament verse where the elect thing is a stone.
**ekloge outside the canon:** two genuine occurrences in the entire Swete corpus, both in Psalms of
Solomon, a first-century BC text outside every canon. (Two Tobit hits are ekologistes, 'accountant,'
a different word.)
PsSol 9:7 ta erga hemon EN EKLOGE kai exousia tes psyches hemon, tou poiesai dikaiosynen kai adikian
ergois cheiron hemon: 'our works are in the choosing and the authority of our own soul, to do
righteousness or unrighteousness by the works of our hands.'
PsSol 18:6 eis hemeran EKLOGES en anaxei christou autou: 'unto the day of election, at the bringing
back of his Christ.'
The only pre-Christian Jewish use of the noun that names a chooser makes the chooser the human soul.
Corpus gap flagged: this Swete set has no Ecclesiastes file. Ecclesiastes contributes no bachar rows in
Hebrew, so no census row is lost.
---
TABLE K. NOT THIS WORD. Lemmas that will be brought, with the actual lemma.
| Verse usually cited | KJV wording | Actual lemma | Every other NT use of that lemma |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Thessalonians 2:13 | 'chosen you to salvation' | haireomai G0138, NOT G1586 | Php 1:22 (Paul chooses), Heb 11:25 (Moses chooses). 3 total. |
| Acts 13:48 | 'ordained to eternal life' | tasso G5021, perfect passive participle, no agent named | Mat 28:16, Luk 7:8, Act 15:2, 22:10, 28:23, Rom 13:1, 1Co 16:15. Ordinary appointment; men appoint in three. |
| Romans 8:29-30, Eph 1:5, 1:11, 1 Cor 2:7, Acts 4:28 | 'predestinate' | proorizo G4309, 6 total | destinations only, never a sorting |
| Rom 8:29, 11:2, 1 Pet 1:20, Acts 26:5, 2 Pet 3:17 | 'foreknow' | proginosko G4267, 5 total | two have MEN as subject (Act 26:5, 2Pe 3:17) |
| Acts 2:23, 1 Pet 1:2 | 'foreknowledge' | prognosis G4268, 2 total | |
| John 6:37, 39; 17:2, 6, 9 | 'given me' | didomi G1325 | note only, not census |
| throughout | 'called' | kaleo / kletos | note only, not census |
On 2 Thess 2:13 I checked the apparatus rather than trusting memory. TAGNT marks the occurrence `N(k)O`;
the variant field reads `eileto (t=eileto) has chosen - G0138=V-2AMI-3S in: TR`. The TR has the same
lemma G0138 in a different tense-form. So the KJV's 'chosen' there is haireomai in every text-type.
The verse also names two means in the same breath: 'through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of
the truth.'
---
TABLE L. THE CONFESSIONAL PROOF-TEXT JOIN
| Article | Proof texts | Which contain the election word family | Census |
|---|---|---|---|
| WCF III.3 | 1Ti 5:21, Mat 25:41, Rom 9:22-23, Eph 1:5-6, Pro 16:4 | 1Ti 5:21 only | A (elect angels; an oath formula, says nothing of life or salvation) |
| WCF III.4 | 2Ti 2:19, Jhn 13:18 | Jhn 13:18 only | P (the one verse where the referent of 'chosen' demonstrably shifts: Jhn 6:70 has Judas inside it) |
| WCF III.5 | Eph 1:4, 1:9, 1:11, 1:6, 1:12; Rom 8:30, 9:11, 9:13, 9:16; 2Ti 1:9; 1Th 5:9 | Eph 1:4 and Rom 9:11 only | N and N. Purposes: 'that we should be holy'; 'that the purpose of God might stand' |
| WCF III.6 | 1Pe 1:2, Eph 1:4-5, 2:10, 2Th 2:13, 1Th 5:9-10, Tit 2:14, Rom 8:30, 1Pe 1:5, Jhn 17:9, Rom 8:28-39, Jhn 6:64-65, 10:26, 8:47, 1Jn 2:19 | 1Pe 1:2, Eph 1:4, Rom 8:33. 2Th 2:13 is NOT the family | N, N, N |
| WCF III.7 (reprobation) | Mat 11:25-26, Rom 9:17-18, 9:21-22, 2Ti 2:19-20, Jude 4, 1Pe 2:8 | NONE | the article consigning the rest of mankind to wrath cites zero election-family verses |
| Dort, First Main Point (29 proof texts) | see spec | Eph 1:4(-6), Rom 9:11-13, Mat 24:24, Rom 8:33, Deu 10:14-15. Acts 13:48 is NOT the family | N, N, T, N, N |
### Calvin, Institutes 3.21.5 (Beveridge, via CCEL; one domain, flagged)
> 'By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with himself whatever
> he wished to happen with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are
> preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation.'
### Dort, First Main Point, Article 7
> 'God chose in Christ TO SALVATION a definite number of particular people out of the entire human
> race...' (older tr.: 'a certain number of persons TO REDEMPTION IN CHRIST')
### Westminster III.5
> 'hath CHOSEN, in Christ, UNTO EVERLASTING GLORY'
### The join, article by article
**Across both confessions: not one D row. Every family verse either body cites classified N, T, A, or P.**
Where 'to salvation' actually enters: from 2 Thess 2:13 (haireomai) and Acts 13:48 (tasso). Neither uses
the election word family.
---
Findings
1.Is there a D row?
NO. None. Zero across 247 occurrences of the family in two languages, three texts, 159 of them with God as the subject. Scripture never states the object or purpose of a divine choosing to be the salvation of the one chosen with nothing else named.
Closest candidate, adjudicated: 2 Timothy 2:10, 'I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.' NOT a D row, and the reason is structural. There is no verb of choosing anywhere in 2 Timothy 2; eklektous is a substantive adjective, an already-settled designation. The chapter's finite verbs here are hypomeno ('I endure', Paul) and tychosin ('they may obtain'). The purpose clause hangs off PAUL'S ENDURANCE, not off any act of choosing. A means is named in the same sentence, which the D definition excludes by construction; 2:9 names a second means ('the word of God is not bound'); and 2:12 attaches 'if we deny him, he also will deny us.'
2.Every stated purpose, in one list:
a place to put his name / a special people unto himself / a peculiar treasure / his own inheritance / to be my priest / to offer / to burn incense / to wear an ephod / to be king / to be ruler over my people / to carry the ark / to minister / to build an house / to be my son / to sit upon the throne / to stand before him / as a signet / to stand in the breach / to bring forth judgment to the Gentiles / that ye may know and believe me / to be holy and without blame / unto obedience and sprinkling / that ye should shew forth the praises / that ye should bring forth fruit / conformed to the image of his Son / that he might be the firstborn among many brethren / to bear my name before the Gentiles / to confound the wise / that no flesh should glory / that the purpose of God might stand / that your fruit should remain.
Thirty-one purposes. Not one is 'to be saved.'
3.Romans 8:33 / 8:28-30: does the chain begin with a described people?
Yes. The first link is 'whom he did foreknow', a relative pronoun, and 8:28 has just supplied its antecedent twice: 'them that love God' and 'them who are the called according to his purpose.' The chain's stated terminus at 8:29 is resemblance ('conformed to the image of his Son') with a reason about Christ ('that he might be the firstborn among many brethren'). eklekton appears in Romans 8 exactly once, at 8:33, AFTER the chain, inside a courtroom question. The word does not do the sorting; it titles a people already described.
4.1 Thessalonians 1:4-6: election known by what?
By response. The gar of 1:5 grounds the participle 'knowing.' Paul knows their election because the gospel came in power, because they received the word, because their faith is spread abroad, because they turned to God from idols. Election is epistemically downstream of visible faith.
5.2 Peter 1:10: what is the man told to do about his election?
Make it sure. Election is the object of an imperative addressed to the man (spoudasate ... bebaian poieisthai), with a conditional attached: 'if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.' 'These things' are the additions to faith of 1:5-7.
6.The angels.
1 Timothy 5:21 'the elect angels' is eklektos where salvation is impossible. Hebrews 2:16: 'For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.' Jude 6: the angels that kept not their first estate are 'reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.' Confirmed both. Angels are called elect, and no angel is redeemed. The word therefore cannot mean 'selected for salvation' at least once in the New Testament, on the confessions' own proof text.
7.The Olivet elect, by the passage's own markers.
Matthew 24 supplies its address before it uses the word: Daniel the prophet (24:15), the holy place (24:15), them which be in Judaea (24:16), the sabbath day (24:20), a bounded tribulation (24:21-22). Every marker is Jewish, geographic, calendrical. 24:31 has them GATHERED by angels from the four winds, which is regathering language.
8.The confessional join: where 'to salvation' enters, and from which verse.
From 2 Thessalonians 2:13 (haireomai G0138) and Acts 13:48 (tasso G5021). Neither uses the election word family. Every family verse the two confessions cite classified N, T, A, or P; none classified D. WCF III.7, the article on reprobation, cites no election-family verse at all.
9.Every exception and every ambiguous row, named.
2 Timothy 2:10 - the one verse where salvation appears in a purpose clause near the word. Adjudicated above: not a D, on structural grounds. - Isaiah 43:10 - 'that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he.' The closest an OT purpose clause comes to a salvation shape. But the clause is epistemic, it sits in a court scene, and 'my witnesses' and 'my servant' are named first. Task with a knowledge requirement. - Isaiah 49:7 - 'he shall choose thee', the servant. Classified N because Isaiah 49:3 names the servant Israel, but the servant songs' referent is genuinely contested. Flagged, not hidden. - Psalm 25:12 - 'him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.' Grammatically God chooses the way (L), but the man could be the chooser. Ambiguous; assigned L. - 1 Kings 11:34 - 'David my servant, whom I chose, BECAUSE he kept my commandments and my statutes.' A divine choosing given a stated basis in the man's obedience. No category change; flagged as the one row where a reason of that kind is attached. - 2 Samuel 16:18 - 'whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose.' A joint subject, God and men together. Assigned to the God column because God is named first. - Matthew 20:16 - present in the TR only. If a reader uses a critical text, this row does not exist. - Luke 9:35, Acts 15:25 - eklegomai in the critical text but NOT the TR. Excluded from a KJV census; a reader of a modern version has two rows the KJV does not. - Isaiah 66:4 - God 'choosing' delusions, a judicial answer to a people's own choosing in the same verse. Category L, but it is the one row where divine choosing is explicitly reciprocal. - Ecclesiastes - no Swete file in this corpus. No bachar rows in Hebrew, so no census row is lost. - Calvin 3.21.5 - one domain only (CCEL, Beveridge). Three other hosts returned 403 or 404. The spec asked for two domains preferred; this rests on one, and that is stated rather than papered over.
Prior work
The corporate reading of election is not new; four of these argued it before this site existed. The word-level claim, that the family never names the sorting, was stated by Congdon and is counted here for the first time I know of.
- William W. Klein, The New Chosen People: A Corporate View of Election (Zondervan, 1990; revised and expanded, Wipf and Stock, 2015). Election in the New Testament is corporate, addressed to a people rather than distributed over individuals. Klein argues the corporate reading of an election directed toward salvation; this census makes the narrower claim that the word never names the sorting, and cites Klein as prior work for the former, not the latter.
- Robert Shank, Elect in the Son (1970): election is corporate, in Christ, and entered by faith.
- Roger T. Forster and V. Paul Marston, God's Strategy in Human History (Send The Light, 1973; Tyndale House, 1974; second edition Wipf and Stock, 2000; two-volume edition PUSH Publishing, 2013). Puts predestination, election and foreknowledge back into their biblical contexts rather than reading them through a system.
- Jacques More, So You Think You're Chosen? (Jarom Books, 2008). In his own framing, a comprehensive response to Calvinism, arguing that conditional predestination was the view of the church for its first four centuries.
- Brian J. Abasciano, Paul's Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9.1-9 (T&T Clark, 2005), 9.10-18 (2011), and a third volume on the remainder of Romans 9, in the Library of New Testament Studies. An intertextual method that reads Paul's citations against the full original context of the passages he quotes.
- Rob Congdon, Congdon Ministries International. In his own words: “there are three different groups in the Bible that are called ‘elect’... the angels that chose to remain righteous... the nation of Israel... and the bride of Christ... In all three situations... in every case it refers to a group that is serving God, and never do you find salvation tied to the word ‘elect’.”
What this census does not settle
A count can only carry what it counted. This one establishes one thing: across 247 occurrences in two languages and three texts, the word family never names the sorting. Every row states a person, a people, a place or a thing chosen, and where a purpose is given it is a role, a character or a task. That is the finding, and it is the whole finding. Four questions remain open, and a reader who wants them closed will not find them closed here.
- Whether the stated purposes presuppose salvation. The Reformed inference is that being chosen to be holy presupposes being chosen to be saved, because the purpose requires the salvation that makes it possible. This census shows the text never writes that step. It does not show the step is wrong. Presupposition is an argument about what must be true behind the words, and a word count cannot reach behind the words.
- The ontology of the “us” in Ephesians 1:4. The verse says God chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Whether that “us” is a company defined in Christ and filled in time, or a determinate set of persons known as individuals before the world, is a question about the referent, not about the verb. The purpose clause is holiness either way, and this table cannot settle which reading of the pronoun is right.
- John 6. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” Giving and coming, not choosing. It is outside the word family, so it is outside this census, and it is one of the strongest passages the other side has. It deserves its own audit rather than a line here.
- Romans 8:30. The chain from foreknown to glorified with no link missing. Also outside the word family: predestinate is proorizo, called is kaleo, and the word elect does not appear until 8:33, after the chain has closed. What the chain implies about the security of the called is a real question, and this census does not answer it.
Said once more so it cannot be overread: the elect Church is saved people, and salvation stands beside this vocabulary on nearly every page. The claim is not that election has nothing to do with salvation. The claim is that the word is never the thing that does the sorting.
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Hebrew and Greek forms from STEPBible TAHOT and TAGNT (CC BY 4.0) and Swete's Septuagint. Greek New Testament counts run on the Textus Receptus. The classification of each row and every conclusion drawn from it are the author's, and are argued in There Is No Calvinist Election in the Bible.