{But speak forth} (alla apophtheggomai). Verb for
dignified and elevated discourse, a word from the literary
_Koin(825f), not the vernacular. In N.T. only here and  2:4,14  which
see. It occurs three times in Vettius Valens in a "mantic" sense.
Paul was not ruffled by the rude and excited interruption of
Festus, but speaks with perfect courtesy in his reply "words of
truth and soberness." The old word s(9370)hrosun(885c) (soundness of
mind) from s(9370)hr(936e) (and that from s(9373) and phr(886e)) is
directly opposed to "madness" (mania) and in N.T. occurs only
here and  1Ti 2:15 .