ma.a.neh denotes a response or spoken reply, whether it is given, withheld, gentle, or associated with the tongue and lips.

The occurrences show a response or reply, especially in situations of speech: the friends have none for Job, a gentle one turns away wrath, and one is associated with lips or the tongue. The same idea also appears as an absent response from God and in the statement that a servant gives none; Proverbs 16:4 does not let the term's specific contribution be isolated in the APB wording.

1. Response or reply in speech · dominant

   In Job 32:3 and Job 32:5, the noun occurs where Job's three friends have no response; the APB renders this as having found “no answer” and having “no further answer.” In Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 15:23, and Proverbs 16:1, it occurs in clauses concerning a gentle reply, the lips, and the tongue; the APB renders the respective clauses with “answer.” Micah 3:7 and Proverbs 29:19 likewise present an absent response, while Proverbs 16:4 contains a construct-form occurrence whose specific contribution is not identifiable from the APB's clause.

   Job 32:3Job 32:5Micah 3:7Proverbs 15:1Proverbs 15:23Proverbs 16:1Proverbs 16:4Proverbs 29:19

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the relevant clauses with “answer,” including “no answer,” “a gentle answer,” and “the answer of the tongue.” In Proverbs 16:4, its wording does not make this lemma's particular contribution clear.