How would one translate the phrase "stand by themselves" in the following sentence?The prophecies of Daniel 11:40-45 have to "stand by themselves".David Vignali
stand by themselves
- Thread starter Don David
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I think it means that it corroborates itself, that the scripture is its own authority. Now how to say in it Spanish???? Maybe "no cabe duda", "resuelve la cuestión", or even the cognate, "corroborar". I'd like to see what native speakers say because I am not really sure. You might explain what it means to you, as it is an idiomatic expression of sorts, to get others to answer. I hope this helps.
jmale
jmale
Estimado jmale,Here is the entire context for the frase in question:If it’s any consolation to us Historicists, who’ve been interpreting the book of Daniel as if most of its prophecies have been fulfilled (and we’ve been able to see clear fulfillments of most of these prophecies), it’s the fact that the Futurists have no explanation for this passage, either. It doesn’t match up with their expectations of the career of the supposed future Antichrist any more than it does with our understanding of the careers and histories of the past antichrists. The prophecies of Daniel 11:40-45 have to STAND BY THEMSELVES until we know how they have been fulfilled, and we’re able to look back and say that we’ve seen them fulfilled, and then we’ll know what God meant to be saying.In view of that, I suspect that a translation, as you suggest, something like-"La cuestión de la interpretación de las profecías de Daniel 11:40-45 no se puede resolver hasta . . . " would serve the purpose.As you say, we'll wait to see whether any native speakers have a better suggestion.David Vignali
Well, I understand that there are some prophecies which have clearly been fulfilled, while some others may or may not have been fulfilled, and that those prophecies whose realization is still in doubt (that is, it is still not clear whether they have come to pass or not) should be studied apart from the others, at least until there's no longer a doubt. That's why I proposed "ser puestas aparte", so they can be studied separately, not necessarily understood differently. Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong 
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.I think that, in this case, stand by themselves, means something like: although we weren't able to confirm their fulfillment, that doesn't necessarily imply they weren't fulfilled. Maybe we weren't able to find the facts which in the past would prove such fulfillment. Bearing in mind that we know many of his prophecies have been historically fulfilled let's trust them until our perception is able to find matches. Maybe something like: tendrán que defenderse por sí mismas/no podrán contar con nuestra validación mientras no seamos capaces de saber de qué forma se han cumplido.
Thank you all for your help. Since all the suggestion seem to me to have merit, I will submit the various possibilities to the author and ask him which one best fits the connotation he was intending to convey.Thanks again.David Vignali