A noun meaning 'answer' or 'reply.' Used for the 12-year-old Jesus astonishing the temple teachers (Luke 2:47), for Jesus's silencing answers, and His sovereign silence before Pilate (John 19:9).
Jesus's answers and silences are both theologically calibrated. Before teachers He astonished with wisdom; before Pilate He fulfilled Isaiah 53:7 ('He opened not his mouth'). The Christian call to 'always be prepared to give an answer' (1 Peter 3:15) is shaped by Christ's Spirit-directed responses.