Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.
Ver. 21. Why askest thou me?] We are to be ready always to give an answer to those that ask us a reason of our hope, so they do it to learn of us, and not to ensnare us. Thus I kept the ban-dogs a at staves' end (saith Nicholas Shetterden, martyr), not as thinking to escape them, but that I would see the foxes leap above ground for my blood, if they can reach it (so it be the will of God), yet we shall then gape and leap for it. Mr Hawks, martyr, asked a parson that examined him, what kin he was to the weathercock of Paul's? And told one Miles Huggard, a hosier b in Pudding Lane, who began to question him, that he could better skill to eat a pudding and make a hose, than in Scripture either to answer or oppose.
a A dog tied or chained up, either to guard a house, or on account of its ferocity; hence gen. a mastiff, bloodhound. ŒD
b One who makes or deals in hose (stockings and socks) and frame-knitted or woven underclothing generally. Also used more generally for a men's outfitter or haberdasher. ŒD