Difference between revisions of "Answer"

<div> '''A — 1: '''''Ἀπόκρισις''''' ''' (Strong'S #612 — Noun [[Feminine]] — apokrisis — ap-ok'-ree-sis ) </div> <p> lit., "a separation or distinction," is the regular word for "answer," &nbsp;Luke 2:47; &nbsp;20:26; &nbsp;John 1:22; &nbsp;19:9 . </p> <div> '''A — 2: '''''Ἀπόκριμα''''' ''' (Strong'S #610 — Noun Neuter — apokrima — ap-ok'-ree-mah ) </div> <p> akin to No. 1, denotes a judicial "sentence," &nbsp;2 Corinthians 1:9 , AV, and RV, margin, or an "answer" (RV, text), an answer of God to the Apostle's appeal, giving him strong confidence. In an ancient inscription it is used of an official decision. In a papyrus document it is used of a reply to a deputation. See Sentence. </p> <div> '''A — 3: '''''Χρηματισμός''''' ''' (Strong'S #5538 — Noun Masculine — chrematismos — khray-mat-is-mos' ) </div> <p> "a [[Divine]] response, an oracle," is used in &nbsp;Romans 11:4 , of the answer given by God to Elijah's complaint against Israel. See the verb under Call. </p> <div> '''A — 4: '''''Ἀπολογία''''' ''' (Strong'S #627 — Noun Feminine — apologia — ap-ol-og-ee'-ah ) </div> <p> a "verbal defense, a speech in defense," is sometimes translated "answer," in the AV, &nbsp;Acts 25:16; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:3; &nbsp;2 Timothy 4:16 , all which the RV corrects to "defense." See &nbsp;Acts 22:1; &nbsp;Philippians 1:7,16; &nbsp;2 Corinthians 7:11 , "clearing." Once it signifies an "answer," &nbsp;1 Peter 3:15 . Cp. B, No. 4. See [[Clearing]] , DEFENSE. </p> &nbsp;1 Peter 3:21 <div> '''B — 1: '''''Ἀποκρίνομαι''''' ''' (Strong'S #611 — Verb — apokrinomai — ap-ok-ree'-nom-ahee ) </div> <p> akin to A, No. 1, above, signifies either "to give an answer to a question" (its more frequent use) or "to begin to speak," but always where something has preceded, either statement or act to which the remarks refer, e.g., &nbsp;Matthew 11:25; &nbsp;Luke 14:3; &nbsp;John 2:18 . The RV translates by "answered," e.g., &nbsp;Matthew 28:5; &nbsp;Mark 12:35; &nbsp;Luke 3:16 , where some have suggested "began to say" or "uttered solemnly," whereas the speaker is replying to the unuttered thought or feeling of those addressed by him. </p> <div> '''B — 2: '''''Ἀνταποκρίνομαι''''' ''' (Strong'S #470 — Verb — antapokrinomai — an-tap-ok-ree'-nom-ahee ) </div> <p> anti, "against," and No. 1, a strengthened form, "to answer by contradiction, to reply against," is found in &nbsp;Luke 14:6; &nbsp;Romans 9:20 . </p> <div> '''B — 3: '''''Ὑπολαμβάνω''''' ''' (Strong'S #5274 — Verb — hupolambano — hoop-ol-am-ban'-o ) </div> <p> signifies (a) "to take or bear up from beneath," &nbsp;Acts 1:9; (b) "to receive," &nbsp;3 John 1:8; (c) "to suppose," &nbsp;Luke 7:43; &nbsp;Acts 2:15; (d) "to catch up (in speech), to answer," &nbsp;Luke 10:30; in sense (d) it indicates that a person follows what another has said, either by controverting or supplementing it. See [[Receive]] , Suppose. </p> <div> '''B — 4: '''''Ἀπολογέομαι''''' ''' (Strong'S #626 — Verb — apologeomai — ap-ol-og-eh'-om-ahee ) </div> <p> cp. A, No. 4, lit., "to talk oneself off from" (apo, "from," lego, "to speak"), "to answer by way of making a defense for oneself" (besides its meaning "to excuse," &nbsp;Romans 2:15; &nbsp;2 Corinthians 12:19 ), is translated "answer" in &nbsp;Luke 12:11; &nbsp;21:14; in &nbsp;Acts 19:33 , AV and RV both have "made defense;" in &nbsp;Acts 24:10; &nbsp;25:8; &nbsp;26:1,2 , the RV has the verb to make a defense, for the AV, "to answer," and in 26:24 for the AV, "spake for himself." See DEFENSE, [[Excuse]] , Speak. </p> <div> '''B — 5: '''''Ἀντιλέγω''''' ''' (Strong'S #483 — Verb — antilego — an-til'-eg-o ) </div> <p> "to speak against," is rendered "answering again" in the AV of &nbsp;Titus 2:9 (RV, "gainsaying"). See Contradict , [[Deny]] , [[Gainsay]] , Speak. </p> <div> '''B — 6: '''''Συστοιχέω''''' ''' (Strong'S #4960 — Verb — sustoicheo — soos-toy-kheh'-o ) </div> <p> lit., "to be in the same line or row with" (sun, "with," stoichos, "a row"), is translated "answereth to" in &nbsp;Galatians 4:25 . </p> &nbsp;Galatians 5:25&nbsp;6:16&nbsp;Acts 12:13[[Hearken]]

<p> Passing over the very large number of occurrences of this word in the common sense of ‘reply’ (ἀποκρίνομαι, ἀπόκρισις), there are one or two interesting usages to note before we come to the most theologically significant use of the term. Thus in &nbsp;Titus 2:9 slaves are enjoined not to ‘answer again’ (Authorized Version; Revised Version‘gainsay,’ ἀντιλέγω); in &nbsp;Galatians 4:25 ‘this [[Hagar]] is Mount [[Sinai]] in [[Arabia]] and <i> answereth to </i> ( <i> i.e. </i> ‘corresponds with,’ συστοιχέω) the [[Jerusalem]] that now is’; in &nbsp;Romans 11:4 St. Paul, discussing the despair of Elijah, asks ‘What saith the <i> answer </i> (χρηματισμός, ‘Divine oracle’) of God unto him?’ </p> <p> The passages with which we are most concerned, however, ate those which speak of the [[Christian]] answer or ‘defence’ (so usually in Revised Version) against critics from within or without the Church (ἀπολογέομαι, ἀπολογία). In the life of St. Paul we have, <i> e.g. </i> , his ‘answer’ or <i> apologia </i> before [[Felix]] (&nbsp;Acts 24:10 ff.), before [[Festus]] (&nbsp;Acts 25:8 ff.), and before [[Agrippa]] (&nbsp;Acts 26:1 ff.). The charges brought against him were that he had incited the people to sedition (&nbsp;Acts 24:5, &nbsp;Acts 25:8), that he had profaned the [[Temple]] (&nbsp;Acts 24:8), and that he was a ringleader of the [[Sect]] of the [[Nazarenes]] (&nbsp;Acts 24:5). His defence was skilfully directed in each case to the rebutting of the charges, to the conciliation of his judges, and to the demand that as a Roman citizen he should be tried before Caesar. Before Agrippa and Festus he defended himself so successfully that they agreed that, if he had not appealed to Caesar, he might have been set at liberty, but having made the appeal he could no longer withdraw. In &nbsp;2 Timothy 4:16 St. Paul is represented as complaining that at his ‘first answer’ (before Caesar) no man took his part, but that ‘all men forsook him’ (cf. &nbsp;2 Timothy 1:15). With these instances may be compared the remarkable ‘answer’ of St. [[Stephen]] before the [[Sanhedrin]] (Acts 7). </p> <p> Of probably even greater interest than these defences before civil tribunals are St. Paul’s answers to those who denied his Apostleship, the [[Judaizers]] who followed him from place to place and attempted to undermine his teaching and influence among his converts in his absence-a fact to which we largely owe the letters to the Galatians and the Corinthians, or at least the most characteristic and polemical portions of them. The same or other enemies charged him with inconsistency (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:2-11 etc.), and brought other charges against him (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 11:7-9, &nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:2), such as the charge of being mean in appearance (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:7-10), of being rude of speech (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 11:6), of being a visionary (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 12:7), and of other things not mentioned, which evidently inspired certain obscure references throughout these chapters. St. Paul’s <i> apologia </i> meets these charges with a vehement assertion of his innocence, of his full Apostleship, of his competency to utter forth the gospel from fullness of knowledge (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 11:6), and of his abundant sufferings and self-denial for the sake of his converts. The large space given to these <i> apologiae </i> and personal rejoinders is remote from our modern habit of mind, but it should be borne in mind that every educated man in these days was expected by the [[Greeks]] to be ready to take free part in polemics of this kind, and to defend himself vigorously against attack. In &nbsp;1 Peter 3:15 we have the well-known injunction to be ‘ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you,’ whether before a judge or in informal conversation-which should probably be interpreted in this sense. In &nbsp;1 Peter 3:21 of the same chapter ‘the answer (Authorized Version) of a good conscience towards God’ is a difficult phrase, and the commentaries should be consulted. ἐπερώτημα can hardly mean ‘answer,’ and the Revised Versiontranslates ‘interrogation’ (see a long note in Huther in Meyer’s <i> Com </i> . pp. 192-197). C. Bigg ( <i> International Critical [[Commentary]] </i> <i> , in loc </i> .) interprets it of the baptismal question or demand. </p> <p> The [[Epistle]] to the Hebrews has been called ‘the first Christian apology,’ in the sense of a definite and reasoned defence of the Christian faith and position. It had its forerunners in the speeches of St. Paul already referred to, and its successors in the long line of Ante-Nicene ‘apologies,’ of which those of Justin [[Martyr]] and Tertullian are two outstanding examples. </p> <p> Literature.-Comm. on the passages cited; [[E. F]]  Scott, <i> The Apologetic of the New [[Testament]] </i> , 1907; [[H. M]]  Gwatkin, <i> Early Church History </i> , 1909, ch. xi., and similar works; [[W. M]]  Ramsay, <i> The Church in the Roman [[Empire]] </i> , 1893. <i> St. Paul the [[Traveller]] and Roman [[Citizen]] </i> , 1895; [[T. R]]  Glover, <i> The [[Conflict]] of Religions in the Early Roman Empire </i> , 1909. </p> <p> E. Griffith Jones. </p>