In response to a tone burst, a pattern of activity is set up in the set of auditory nerve fibers. A simplified model is described in this paper that can represent this pattern both with respect to the number of nerve fibers involved and the detailed time course of the firings. The parameters of the model concerning frequency selectivity and latency are adapted from measurements with the so-called reverse correlation technique. Further properties incorporated in the model are saturation for excitation over 40 dB above threshold and high sensitivity. When specific assumptions are made regarding the contribution of the firing of each nerve fiber to the whole-nerve potential, the waveform of the action potential (AP) can be synthesized from the model. The theory gives a quantitative account of the dependence of the AP latency upon stimulus intensity. Two main contributing factors are frequency selectivity and latency distribution of nerve fibers. Experimental AP amplitudes show a more complex course as a function of stimulus intensity than the theory predicts. Several possible improvements of the method are discussed. Since AP recordings are often used for diagnostic purposes, a separate section of the paper is dedicated to the connection between the properties of auditory nerve fibers and of the whole-nerve AP in abnormal ears. Subject Classification: 65.42, 65.35.