Bible Thesaurus: Choose

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Thesaurus

Choose (116 Occurrences)
... 1. (vt) To make choice of; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more
objects offered; to elect; as, to choose the least of two evils. ...
/c/choose.htm - 54k

Chooses (36 Occurrences)
... company, saying: 'In the morning the LORD will show who are His, and who is holy,
and will cause him to come near unto Him; even him whom He may choose will He ...
/c/chooses.htm - 17k

Elect (32 Occurrences)
... 5. (n.) Those who are chosen for salvation. 6. (vt) To pick out; to select; to choose. ...
8. (vt) To designate, choose, or select, as an object of mercy or favor. ...
/e/elect.htm - 21k

Gates (156 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 12:18 but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which
Yahweh your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your ...
/g/gates.htm - 40k

Chosen (197 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary. 1. (pp) of Choose. 2. (pp) Selected from a number; picked
out; choice. ... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. CHOOSE; CHOSEN. ...
/c/chosen.htm - 53k

Chose (59 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (imp.) of Choose. 2. (pp) of Choose. 3. (n.) A thing;
personal property. 4. (v.) imp. & pp of Choose. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/c/chose.htm - 25k

Conscience (36 Occurrences)
... at the parting of the ways, seeing clearly before it the right course and the wrong,
conscience commands to strike into the one and forbids to choose the other ...
/c/conscience.htm - 37k

Tithe (30 Occurrences)
... to offer from this their inheritance a heave offering, a tithe of a tithe, to the
priests (compare Nehemiah 10:39), and for this tithey were to choose of the ...
/t/tithe.htm - 28k

Establish (133 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 12:5 But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all
your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation you shall seek, and ...
/e/establish.htm - 39k

Levite (43 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 12:18 but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which
Yahweh your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your ...
/l/levite.htm - 26k

Bible Concordance

Choose (116 Occurrences)

Matthew 12:18 Lo, My servant, whom I did choose, My beloved, in whom My soul did delight, I will put My Spirit upon him, and judgment to the nations he shall declare,
(YLT)

Matthew 20:14 Take your money and go. I choose to give this last comer just as much as I give you.
(WEY RSV)

Matthew 20:15 Have I not a right to do what I choose with my own property? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
(WEY RSV)

Matthew 23:4 Heavy and cumbrous burdens they bind together and load men's shoulders with them, while as for themselves, not with one finger do they choose to lift them.
(WEY)

Mark 13:20 and if the Lord did not shorten the days, no flesh had been saved; but because of the chosen, whom He did choose to Himself, He did shorten the days.
(YLT)

Mark 14:7 For you always have the poor among you, and whenever you choose you can do acts of kindness to them; but me you have not always.
(WEY)

Luke 10:22 All things are delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, nor who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son may choose to reveal Him."
(WEY RSV NIV)

Luke 10:42 but of one thing there is need, and Mary the good part did choose, that shall not be taken away from her.'
(YLT)

John 6:70 Jesus answered them, "Didn't I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"
(WEB WEY ASV YLT NAS RSV)

John 15:16 You didn't choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
(WEB ASV YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 1:2 till the day in which, having given command, through the Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom he did choose out, he was taken up,
(YLT)

Acts 1:21 "Of the men therefore who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
(See NIV)

Acts 1:24 and having prayed, they said, 'Thou, Lord, who art knowing the heart of all, shew which one thou didst choose of these two
(YLT)

Acts 6:3 Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
(See NIV)

Acts 6:5 And the thing was pleasing before all the multitude, and they did choose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch,
(YLT)

Acts 13:17 the God of this people Israel did choose our fathers, and the people He did exalt in their sojourning in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm did He bring them out of it;
(YLT)

Acts 15:22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers.
(WEB WEY ASV NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 15:25 it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
(WEB ASV RSV NIV)

Acts 15:40 but Paul choose Silas, and went forth, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.
(ASV)

Acts 22:14 and he said, The God of our fathers did choose thee beforehand to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice out of his mouth,
(YLT)

1 Corinthians 1:27 but the foolish things of the world did God choose, that the wise He may put to shame; and the weak things of the world did God choose that He may put to shame the strong;
(YLT)

1 Corinthians 1:28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, 'yea' and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are:
(ASV YLT)

2 Corinthians 12:6 If however I should choose to boast, I should not be a fool for so doing, for I should be speaking the truth. But I forbear, lest any one should be led to estimate me more highly than what his own eyes attest, or more highly than what he hears from my lips.
(WEY NIV)

Ephesians 1:4 according as He did choose us in him before the foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him, in love,
(YLT)

Philippians 1:22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will bring fruit from my work; yet I don't make known what I will choose.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we laid down this rule for you: "If a man does not choose to work, neither shall he eat."
(WEY)

James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn't God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
(WEB ASV YLT NAS)

1 Peter 4:3 For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries.
(See NIV)

Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats:
(See NIV)

Exodus 17:9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God's rod in my hand."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 18:21 Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
(See RSV)

Numbers 14:4 They said one to another, "Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt."
(See RSV NIV)

Numbers 16:5 and he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, "In the morning Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he shall choose he will cause to come near to him.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 16:7 and put fire in them, and put incense on them before Yahweh tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom Yahweh chooses, he shall be holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!"
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 17:5 It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 1:13 Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you."
(See NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 7:7 Yahweh didn't set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS NAS NIV)

Deuteronomy 12:5 But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation you shall seek, and there you shall come;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 12:11 then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 12:14 but in the place which Yahweh shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 12:18 but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates: and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God in all that you put your hand to.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 12:21 If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to put his name there, is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 12:26 Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 14:23 You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 14:24 If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which Yahweh your God shall choose, to set his name there, when Yahweh your God shall bless you;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 14:25 then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 15:20 You shall eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place which Yahweh shall choose, you and your household.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 16:2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 16:6 but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 16:7 You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: and you shall turn in the morning, and go to your tents.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 16:11 and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in the midst of you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 16:15 You shall keep a feast to Yahweh your God seven days in the place which Yahweh shall choose; because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all your males appear before Yahweh your 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 tents; and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 17:8 If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates; then you shall arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 17:10 You shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show you from that place which Yahweh shall choose; and you shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 17:15 you shall surely set him king over yourselves, whom Yahweh your God shall choose: one from among your brothers you shall set king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 18:6 If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he lives as a foreigner, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 23:16 he shall dwell with you, in the midst of you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best: you shall not oppress him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 26:2 that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you; and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:11 when all Israel is come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 9:27 That day Joshua made them wood cutters and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, in the place which he should choose.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 24:15 If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Samuel 2:28 Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? Did I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

1 Samuel 17:8 He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, "Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 15:15 The king's servants said to the king, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses."
(Root in WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS NIV)

2 Samuel 16:18 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.
(KJV DBY WBS)

2 Samuel 17:1 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 21:6 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.
(KJV)

2 Samuel 24:12 "Go and speak to David,'Thus says Yahweh, "I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you."'"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 8:16 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 a house, that My name might be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel.
(See NAS)

1 Kings 14:21 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 his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
(KJV)

1 Kings 18:23 Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 18:25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Kings 18:32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and of honey, that you may live, and not die. Don't listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, "Yahweh will deliver us."
(See NIV)

1 Chronicles 21:10 Go and speak to David, saying, Thus says Yahweh, I offer you three things: choose one of them, that I may do it to you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Chronicles 21:11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee
(KJV WBS)

1 Chronicles 21:12 Choose thee, either three years of famine, or three months to be destroyed before thine adversaries while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee, or three days the sword of Jehovah and the pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying through all the borders of Israel. And now consider what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
(DBY)

2 Chronicles 6:5 Since the day that I brought forth My people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that My name might be there; neither chose I any man to be prince over My people Israel;
(See NAS)

Nehemiah 9:7 You are Yahweh the God, who did choose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY RSV)

Job 7:15 so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 9:3 If he shall choose to strive with him, he cannot answer him one thing of a thousand.
(DBY)

Job 9:14 How much less shall I answer him, And choose my words to argue with him?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Job 15:5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 29:25 I choose their way, and sit head, And I dwell as a king in a troop, When mourners he doth comfort.
(YLT)

Job 34:4 Let us choose for us that which is right. Let us know among ourselves what is good.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 34:33 Shall his recompense be as you desire, that you refuse it? For you must choose, and not I. Therefore speak what you know.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Psalms 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take their names on my lips.
(See RSV)

Psalms 25:12 What man is he who fears Yahweh? He shall instruct him in the way that he shall choose.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Psalms 33:12 O the happiness of the nation whose God 'is' Jehovah, Of the people He did choose, For an inheritance to Him.
(YLT)

Psalms 47:4 He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT NAS)

Psalms 65:4 Blessed is one whom you choose, and cause to come near, that he may live in your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 75:2 When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly.
(WEB NIV)

Psalms 78:67 Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, and didn't choose the tribe of Ephraim,
(WEB NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 1:29 because they hated knowledge, and didn't choose the fear of Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 3:31 Don't envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 16:16 How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver.
(See NIV)

Isaiah 7:15 He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 7:16 For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 14:1 For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land. The foreigner will join himself with them, and they will unite with the house of Jacob.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (v. t.) To make choice of; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more objects offered; to elect; as, to choose the least of two evils.

2. (v. t.) To wish; to desire; to prefer.

3. (v. i.) To make a selection; to decide.

4. (v. i.) To do otherwise.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

CHOOSE; CHOSEN

chooz, cho'-z'-n (bachar, qabhal, bara', barah; ek-lego):

I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. Human Choice

2. God Chooses King of Israel

3. God Chooses Jerusalem

4. Election of Israel

5. Yahweh's Grace

(1) An Act of Sovereignty

(2) For Mankind's Sake

II. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. Various Meanings

2. Of God's Free Grace

3. Ultimate Antinomies

4. Election Corresponds to Experience

The words denote an act of comparison of two or more objects or persons, the preference and selection of one, or of a few out of a larger number for a certain purpose, function, position or privilege.

I. In the Old Testament.

1. Human Choice:

For bachar and its derivatives: men choosing wives (Genesis 6:2); Lot choosing the cities of the Plain (Genesis 13:11); often of kings and generals choosing soldiers for their prowess (e.g. Exodus 17:9 Joshua 8:3 1 Samuel 13:2; 2 Samuel 10:9; 2 Samuel 17:1). The word bachar is often used for "young men," as being choice, in the prime of manhood. The most important uses of bachar are these: of Israel choosing a king (1 Samuel 8:18; 1 Samuel 12:13); of moral and religious choice: choosing Yahweh as God (Joshua 24:15, 22), or other gods (Judges 5:8; Judges 10:14); the way of truth (Psalm 119:30); to refuse the evil and choose the good (Isaiah 7:15, 16); compare David's choice of evils (2 Samuel 24:12).

2. God Chooses King of Israel:

A leading idea is that of God choosing Moses as leader (Numbers 16:5, 7; Numbers 17:5); the Levites to the priesthood (1 Samuel 2:28 2 Chronicles 29:11); Saul as king (1 Samuel 10:24), David (2 Samuel 6:21 1 Kings 11:34), Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:5). All this follows from theocratic idea that God rules personally over Israel as His chosen people.

3. God Chooses Jerusalem:

A more important, but still subsidiary, idea is that of Yahweh choosing Jerusalem as the place of His habitation and worship (Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 20 other times, Joshua 9:27 1 Kings 8:44, 48 Psalm 132:13 Zechariah 1:17; Zechariah 2:12; Zechariah 3:2). This was the ruling idea of Josiah's reformation which was instrumental in putting down polytheistic ideas and idolatrous practices in Israel, and was therefore an important factor in the development of Hebrew monotheism; but it was an idea that Hebrew monotheism had to transcend and reject to attain its full growth. "The hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father" (John 4:21).

4. Election of Israel:

But the fundamental idea of choosing, which governs all others in the Old Testament, is that of God choosing Israel to be His peculiar people. He chose Abraham, and made a covenant with him, to give him the land of Canaan (Nehemiah 9:7): "For thou art a holy people unto Yahweh thy God: Yahweh thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. because Yahweh loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers" (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). Historically this idea originated in the old conception of Yahweh as the tribal God of Israel, bound to her by natural and indissoluble ties (see GOD). But as their conception of Yahweh became more moral, and the idea of His righteousness predominated, it was recognized that there was no natural and necessary relation and harmony between Israel and Yahweh that accounted for the favor of a righteous God toward her, for Israel was no better than her neighbors (Amos 1; Amos 2). Why then was Yahweh Israel's God, and Israel His people?

5. Yahweh's Grace:

It was by an act of free choice and sovereign grace on God's part. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). In Hosea the relation is described under the figure of a marriage tie. Yahweh is Israel's husband: and to realize the force of the figure, it is necessary to recall what ancient and oriental marriage customs were. Choice and favor were almost entirely made by the husband. The idea of the covenant which Yahweh out of His free grace made with Israel comes to the forefront in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah. Because He loved her, and for no other reason, He has chosen Israel to be His peculiar people. In Isaiah 40-66 the idea is carried farther in two directions:

(1) An Act of Sovereignty:

Yahweh's gracious choice of Israel rests ultimately on His absolute sovereignty: "O Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen: thus saith Yahweh that made thee, and formed thee from the womb" (Isaiah 44:1, 2; compare Isaiah 29:16 Jeremiah 18:6 Isaiah 64:8). For Israel's deliverance Cyrus and his world-empire are in Yahweh's hands as clay in the potter's hands (Isaiah 45:9, 10).

(2) For Mankind's Sake:

"Israel is elect for the sake of mankind." This is the moral interpretation of a choice that otherwise appears arbitrary and irrational. God's purpose and call of salvation are unto all mankind. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:22). And Israel is His servant, chosen, the messenger He sends, "to bring forth justice to the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:1, 19; Isaiah 43:10, 12). The idea is further developed in the conception of the SERVANT OF JEHOVAH (which see) as the faithful few (or one) formed "from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him," "for a light to the Gentiles," God's "salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:1-6; Isaiah 52:13-53:12) (compare Isaiah's doctrine of the Remnant: Shearjashub; also, the righteous, the godly, the meek, in Pss; and see Skinner, Isaiah, II, xxxff). As the conception of personality and of individual relation and responsibility to God developed from Ezekiel onward, together with the resulting doctrine of personal immortality, the conditions were prepared for the application of the idea of election to individuals (compare Psalm 65:4).

Coordinate with the idea of God choosing Israel runs the complementary idea that Israel should prove faithful to the covenant, and worthy of the choice. God has chosen her, not for any merit in her, but of His free grace, and according to His purpose of salvation, but if Israel fails to respond by faithful conduct, fitting her to be His servant and messenger, He may and will cast her off, or such portion of her as proves unworthy. SeeOehler, Old Testament Theology, I, 256, 287.

Three other Hebrew words expressing choice in minor matters are: qabhal, for David's choice of evils (1 Chronicles 21:11); bara', to mark out a place (Ezekiel 21:19), to select singers and porters for the temple (1 Chronicles 9:22; 1 Chronicles 16:41); barah, to choose a man to represent Israel against Goliath (1 Samuel 17:8).

II. In the New Testament.

1. Various Meanings:

The whole conception of God, of His relation to Israel, and of His action in history indicated above, constituted the religious heritage of Jesus Christ and His disciples. The national conciousness had to a considerable extent given place to that of the individual; and salvation extended beyond the present life into a state of blessedness in a future world. But the central ideas remain, and are only modified in the New Testament in so far as Jesus Christ becomes the Mediator and Agent of God's sovereign grace. Eklego and its derivatives are the words that generally express the idea in the New Testament. They are used

(1) of the general idea of selecting one out of many (Luke 14:7);

(2) of choosing men for a particular purpose, e.g. of the church choosing the seven (Acts 6:5); of the choice of delegates from the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:22, 25; compare 2 Corinthians 8:19), cheirotoneo; choose by vote (the Revised Version (British and American) "appoint") (compare Acts 10:41), procheirotoneo;

(3) of moral choice (Mark 13:20): "Mary hath chosen the good part" (Luke 10:42);

(4) of Christ as the chosen Messiah of God (Luke 23:35 1 Peter 2:4 the King James Version);

(5) of Christ choosing His apostles (Luke 6:13 John 6:70; John 13:18; John 15:16, 19 Acts 1:2, 24); Paul (Acts 9:15; compare Acts 22:14 the King James Version), procheirizomai; Rufus (Romans 16:13); and Paul chose Silas (Acts 15:40), epilego;

(6) of God

(a) choosing Israel (Acts 13:17; compare Romans 9:11),

(b) choosing the Christian church as the new Israel (1 Peter 2:9 the King James Version),

(c) choosing the members of the church from among the poor (James 2:5), the foolish, weak and despised (1 Corinthians 1:27-28),

(d) choosing into His favor and salvation a few out of many: "Many are called, but few are chosen' " (Matthew 20:16 (omitted in the Revised Version (British and American)); Matthew 22:14); God shortens the days of the destruction of Jerusalem "for the elect's sake, whom he chose" (Mark 13:20).

2. Of God's Free Grace:

In Ephesians 1:4-6 every phrase tells a different phase of the conception:

(1) God chose (and foreordained) the saints in Christ before the foundation of the world;

(2) according to the good pleasure of His will;

(3) unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself;

(4) to be holy and without blemish before Him in love;

(5) to the praise of the glory of His grace;

(6) which He freely bestowed on them in the Beloved. And in Revelation 17:14, the triumphant church in heaven is described as "called and chosen and faithful." God's sovereign choice governs the experience and testing of the saints at every point from beginning to end.

Thus in the New Testament as in the Old Testament

(1) God's covenant of grace is free and unconditional. It is unto all men, now as individuals rather than nations, and without distinction of race or class. It is no less free and sovereign, because it is a father's grace.

(2) Israel is still a chosen race for a special purpose.

(3) The church and the saints that constitute it are chosen to the full experience and privileges of sonship.

(4) God's purpose of grace is fully revealed and realized through Jesus Christ.

3. Ultimate Antinomies:

This doctrine raises certain theological and metaphysical difficulties that have never yet been satisfactorily solved.

(1) How can God be free if all His acts are preordained from eternity? This is an antinomy which indeed lies at the root of all personality. It is of the essence of the idea of personality that a person should freely determine himself and yet act in conformity with his own character. Every person in practice and experience solves this antinomy continually, though he may have no intellectual category that can coordinate these two apparently contradictory principles in all personality.

(2) How can God be just, if a few are chosen and many are left? And

(3) How can man be free if his moral character proceeds out of God's sovereign grace? It is certain that if God chose all or left all He would be neither just nor gracious, nor would man have any vestige of freedom.

4. Election Corresponds to Experience:

The doctrine describes accurately (a) the moral fact, that some accept salvation and others reject it; (b) the religious fact that God's sovereign and unconditional love is the beginning and cause of salvation. The meeting-point of the action of grace, and of man's liberty as a moral and responsible being, it does not define. Nor has the category as yet been discovered wherewith to construe and coordinate these two facts of religious experience together, although it is a fact known in every Christian experience that where God is most sovereign, man is most free.

For other passages, and the whole idea in the New Testament, see ELECTION.

T. Rees

Greek

138. haireo -- to take, choose
... to take, choose. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: haireo Phonetic Spelling:
(hahee-reh'-om-ahee) Short Definition: I choose, prefer Definition: I choose ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/138.htm - 7k

140. hairetizo -- to choose
... to choose. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: hairetizo Phonetic Spelling:
(hahee-ret-id'-zo) Short Definition: I choose Definition: I choose. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/140.htm - 6k

1951. epilego -- to call or name, to choose
... to call or name, to choose. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: epilego Phonetic
Spelling: (ep-ee-leg'-om-ahee) Short Definition: I call, choose for myself ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1951.htm - 6k

2639. katalego -- to lay down, choose out
... to lay down, choose out. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: katalego Phonetic
Spelling: (kat-al-eg'-o) Short Definition: I enter in a list, register ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2639.htm - 6k

1586. eklego -- to select
... to select. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: eklego Phonetic Spelling:
(ek-leg'-om-ahee) Short Definition: I choose, elect Definition: I pick out for myself ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1586.htm - 8k

4400. procheirizo -- to put into the hand, to take into one's hand ...
... to determine. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: procheirizo Phonetic Spelling:
(prokh-i-rid'-zom-ahee) Short Definition: I appoint, choose, elect Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4400.htm - 7k

5500. cheirotoneo -- to vote by stretching out the hand, to ...
... stretching out the hand, to appoint. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: cheirotoneo
Phonetic Spelling: (khi-rot-on-eh'-o) Short Definition: I choose by vote ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5500.htm - 7k

1807. exaireo -- to take out, to deliver
... to take out, to deliver. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: exaireo Phonetic
Spelling: (ex-ahee-reh'-o) Short Definition: I remove, choose, rescue Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1807.htm - 7k

4401. procheirotoneo -- to appoint beforehand
... Speech: Verb Transliteration: procheirotoneo Phonetic Spelling: (prokh-i-rot-on-
eh'-o) Short Definition: I designate beforehand Definition: I choose or appoint ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4401.htm - 7k

4758. stratologeo -- to enlist soldiers
... Word Origin from the same as strateuo and lego (in the sense of pick up or choose)
Definition to enlist soldiers NASB Word Usage enlisted...as a soldier (1). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4758.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

977. bachar -- to choose
... 976, 977. bachar. 978 . to choose. Transliteration: bachar Phonetic Spelling:
(baw-khar') Short Definition: chosen. Word Origin a prim. ...
/hebrew/977.htm - 6k

3231. yaman -- to go to or choose the right, to use the right hand
... 3230, 3231. yaman. 3232 . to go to or choose the right, to use the right hand.
Transliteration: yaman Phonetic Spelling: (yaw-man') Short Definition: right ...
/hebrew/3231.htm - 6k

1262. barah -- to eat
... Word Origin a prim. root Definition to eat NASB Word Usage choose (1), eat
(5), food (1). choose, cause to eat, manifest, give meat. ...
/hebrew/1262.htm - 6k

1254. bara' -- to shape, create
... to shape, create. Transliteration: bara' Phonetic Spelling: (baw-raw') Short Definition:
choose. choose, create creator, cut down, dispatch, do, make fat ...
/hebrew/1254.htm - 5k

6901. qabal -- to receive, take
... choose, take hold, receive, undertake. A primitive root; to admit, ie Take (literally
or figuratively) -- choose, (take) hold, receive, (under-)take. ...
/hebrew/6901.htm - 6k

972. bachir -- chosen
... choose, chosen one, elect. From bachar; select -- choose, chosen one, elect. see
HEBREW bachar. 971, 972. bachir. 973 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/972.htm - 6k

3920. lakad -- to capture, seize, take
... A primitive root; to catch (in a net, trap or pit); generally, to capture or occupy;
also to choose (by lot); figuratively, to cohere -- X at all, catch (self ...
/hebrew/3920.htm - 6k

3051. yahab -- to give
... Word Origin a prim. root Definition to give NASB Word Usage ascribe (10), choose
(1), come (4), give (15), here (1), place (1), provide (1). ...
/hebrew/3051.htm - 6k

Library

"Thus was I Learned to Choose Jesus for My Heaven, whom I Saw Only ...
... THE EIGHTH REVELATION CHAPTER XIX "Thus was I learned to choose Jesus for
my Heaven, whom I saw only in pain at that time ". "Thus ...
/.../julian/revelations of divine love/chapter xix thus was i.htm

June 30. "Therefore, Choose" (Deut. xxx. 19).
... JUNE 30. "Therefore, choose" (Deut. xxx. 19). "Therefore, choose" (Deuteronomy
30:19). Men are choosing every day the spiritual or earthly. ...
/.../simpson/days of heaven upon earth /june 30 therefore choose deut.htm

Petilianus Said: "Choose, in Short, which of the Two Alternatives ...
... Petilianus said: "Choose, in short, which of the two alternatives you prefer.� ...
Petilianus said: "Choose, in short, which of the two alternatives you prefer. ...
/.../chapter 97 220 petilianus.htm

Those Women who Choose the Ascetic Life and are Settled in ...
... The Sixth Ecumenical Council. Canon XLVI. Those women who choose the ascetic
life and are settled in monasteries may by no� Those ...
/.../schaff/the seven ecumenical councils/canon xlvi those women who.htm

Keep for God his Own Property Untainted; He Will Crown it if He ...
... Chapter XV. Keep for God His own property untainted; He will crown it if He choose.�
Keep for God His own property untainted; He will crown it if He choose. ...
/.../tertullian/the chaplet or de corona/chapter xv keep for god.htm

That Bishops be not Detained Too Long in Council, Let them Choose ...
... Canon CXXVII. (Greek cxxviii.) That bishops be not detained too long in council,
let them choose three judges from themselves of the singular provinces. ...
/.../schaff/the seven ecumenical councils/canon cxxvii greek cxxviii that.htm

What, Then, was it Likely that the Master of the Slave Would ...
... IV."Apologetic Works. Chapter XXIII. What, then, was it likely that the
master of the slave would choose to receive� What, then ...
/.../gregory/gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/chapter xxiii what then was.htm

How it Lies in Our Own Power to Choose Whether to Remain under the ...
... Chapter VII. How it lies in our own power to choose whether to remain under
the grace of the gospel or under the terror of the law. ...
/.../cassian/the conferences of john cassian/chapter vii how it lies.htm

That it Does not Pertain to Princes to Choose a Bishop.
... The Sixth Ecumenical Council. Canon III. That it does not pertain to princes to
choose a Bishop. That it does not pertain to princes to choose a Bishop. ...
/.../schaff/the seven ecumenical councils/canon iii that it does.htm

It is Lawful for Every Christian to Choose the Life of Religious ...
... The Sixth Ecumenical Council. Canon XLIII. It is lawful for every Christian
to choose the life of religious discipline� It is ...
/.../schaff/the seven ecumenical councils/canon xliii it is lawful.htm

Subtopics

Choose

Related Terms

Chooses (36 Occurrences)

Elect (32 Occurrences)

Gates (156 Occurrences)

Chosen (197 Occurrences)

Chose (59 Occurrences)

Conscience (36 Occurrences)

Tithe (30 Occurrences)

Establish (133 Occurrences)

Levite (43 Occurrences)