Definition

to give an account (legal plea) of oneself, i.e. exculpate (self)

Etymology

middle voice from a compound of G575 (ἀπό) and G3056 (λόγος);

Where the KJV renders it

• answer (for self)
• make defence
• excuse (self)
• speak for self

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.