AtD: the title

[Dave Monroe]

This, I'd assumed, was a given, esp. given the
apparent sources (Biblical, Faulknerian, Rooseveltian)
...

--- jbor at bigpond.com wrote:

> Rather than "contra" or "in opposition to", in the
> phrase as most commonly used it implies "measured
> against" or "gauged in terms of" (or "in
> anticipation of", as Michael noted) ...

See 4 a, b below ...

Main Entry: against
Pronunciation: &-'gen(t)st, -'gin(t)st, -'gAn(t)st
Function: preposition
Etymology: Middle English, alteration of againes, from
again
1 a : in opposition or hostility to <spoke against his
enemies> b : contrary to <against the law> c : in
competition with <racing against each other> d : as a
basis for disapproval of <had nothing against him>
2 a : directly opposite : FACING <she sat down just
over against me -- Daniel Defoe> b obsolete : exposed
to
3 : compared or contrasted with <profits are up
against last year>
4 a : in preparation or provision for <saving against
an uncertain future> b : as a defense or protection
from <a shelter against the cold>
5 a : in the direction of and into contact with
<knocked against the ropes> b : in contact with
<leaning against the wall>
6 : in a direction opposite to the motion or course of
: counter to <sail against the wind>
7 a : as a counterbalance to <weighing risk against
profit> b : in exchange for <a lower rate against the
dollar> c : as a charge on <charged against her
account>
8 : before the background of <viewed against the sky>

Plus ...

Main Entry: against
Function: conjunction
archaic : in preparation for the time when <throw on
another log of wood against father comes home --
Charles Dickens>

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

But, as always with Pynchon, as always with language,
be prepared for some polysemeity.  Words as  subatomic
particles, probabilities + possibilities ...

--

But what I wondered in the wake of Otto's post was,
what mighht one say about the OG text? But God (or
whoever) only knows what that might have been, so ...

I didn't clean up the transliteration here after cut
'n' pasting the text ("w"s = lower case omegas, et
al.), so for the Greek, see the URL that follows.  But
the various ways in which the Eng. trans. has been
handled ought to give the gist of things ...

--

The Second Epistle General of Peter
Chapter 3, Verse 7

Stephens 1550 Textus Receptus
oi de nun ouranoi kai h gh autou logw teqhsaurismenoi
eisin puri throumenoi eiV hmeran krisewV kai apwleiaV
twn asebwn anqrwpwn

Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus
oi de nun ouranoi kai h gh tw autw logw
teqhsaurismenoi eisin puri throumenoi eiV hmeran
krisewV kai apwleiaV twn asebwn anqrwpwn

Byzantine Majority
oi de nun ouranoi kai h gh tw autou logw
teqhsaurismenoi eisin puri throumenoi eiV hmeran
krisewV kai apwleiaV twn asebwn anqrwpwn

Alexandrian
oi de nun ouranoi kai h gh tw autw logw
teqhsaurismenoi eisin puri throumenoi eiV hmeran
krisewV kai apwleiaV twn asebwn anqrwpwn

Hort and Westcott
oi de nun ouranoi kai h gh tw autw logw
teqhsaurismenoi eisin puri throumenoi eiV hmeran
krisewV kai apwleiaV twn asebwn anqrwpwn

Latin Vulgate
3:7 caeli autem qui nunc sunt et terra eodem verbo
repositi sunt igni servati in diem iudicii et
perditionis impiorum hominum

King James Version
3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men.

American Standard Version
3:7 but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by
the same word have been stored up for fire, being
reserved against the day of judgment and destruction
of ungodly men.

Bible in Basic English
3:7 But the present heaven and the present earth have
been kept for destruction by fire, which is waiting
for them on the day of the judging and destruction of
evil men.

Darby's English Translation
3:7 But the present heavens and the earth by his word
are laid up in store, kept for fire unto a day of
judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Douay Rheims
3:7 But the heavens and the earth which are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of the
ungodly men.

Noah Webster Bible
3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men.

Weymouth New Testament
3:7 But the present heavens and the present earth are,
by the command of the same God, kept stored up,
reserved for fire in preparation for a day of
judgement and of destruction for the ungodly.

World English Bible
3:7 But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by
the same word have been stored up for fire, being
reserved against the day of judgment and destruction
of ungodly men.

Young's Literal Translation
3:7 and the present heavens and the earth, by the same
word are treasured, for fire being kept to a day of
judgment and destruction of the impious men.

http://www.greeknewtestament.com/B61C003.htm#V7

http://www.greeknewtestament.com/B61C003.htm

> 2 Peter 3.7: But the heavens that now are, and
> the earth, by the same word have been stored up
> for fire, being reserved against the day of  
> judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
> 
> http://bible.cc/2_peter/3-7.htm

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