AtD translation: the title

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I don't get a sense that the day is in the future without looking to accommodate a certain incompletion in the title, of the sort common to songs. Even an immediate day needn't hold back a reference to having told of a future day in the past though.


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On Saturday, January 5, 2019 5:54 PM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'd go with those Bible translators --"'until that day' or 'be ready for
> that day.' I agree with David M. that "against" BY ITSELF "primarily
> denotes opposition, an active fight against something or someone." But AS
> PART OF THE IDIOMATIC PHRASE "against the day," its primary sense is
> "making preparation or provision for a day to come."
>
> AS THE TITLE of this novel full of photography and relativity and
> electrification, it takes on the secondary, spatial sense of contre-jour:
> something silhouetted by the sun or bright sky behind/beyond it, the
> details of what you're looking at lost because of the extreme contrast...
>
> ... which in combination with the primary sense, might prompt further
> connotations relevant to the ideologies and politics of the book's period
> and characters -- e.g. that looking forward to a bright future may make it
> harder to discern what's right in front of you today. Which circles back to
> inflect the primary sense.
>
> It seems unlikely a priori (a putonghuari?) that an acceptably short phrase
> in any other language would point in all those directions at once, so my
> recommendation would be to concentrate on the primary sense -- "something
> is coming in the future, get ready for it."
>
> On Sat, Jan 5, 2019 at 12:18 AM Mike Jing gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
> wrote:
>
> > Well, in that case, the bible translations do not offer much help at all.
> > That sense is completely lost in translation. That's what makes this so
> > difficult.
> > On Fri, Jan 4, 2019 at 11:10 PM David Morris fqmorris at gmail.com wrote:
> >
> > > Remember, "against" primarily denotes opposition, an active fight against
> > > something or someone. Other meanings are secondary.
> > > On Fri, Jan 4, 2019 at 10:03 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Thanks, David. That helps a lot.
> > > > It's various versions of "until that day" or "be ready for that day".
> > > > Although it cannot be directly adopted word for word, the important
> > > > idea is
> > >
> > > > there, and that's something I can work with.
> > > > On Fri, Jan 4, 2019 at 10:51 PM David Morris fqmorris at gmail.com
> > > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > > See how your Bible scholars have translated these KJV verses.
> > > > > David Morris
> > > > > On Fri, Jan 4, 2019 at 9:48 PM David Morris fqmorris at gmail.com
> > > > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > > > [image: Unchecked Copy Box] 2Ti 1:12
> > > > > > https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/2ti/1/12/s_1126012
> > > > > > For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not
> > > > > > ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is
> > > > > > able to keep thatwhich I have committed unto him against that day.
> > > > > > [image: Unchecked Copy Box] Est 3:14
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/est/3/14/s_429014
> > > > > > > > > The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every
> > > > > > > > > province was published unto all people, that they should be ready
> > > > > > > > > against
> > >
> > > > > > > > > that day.
> >
> > --
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>
> --
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