a como diera lugar

Question

"Cuando amaneció, no reconocieron la tierra, pero vieron una bahía que tenía playa, donde decidieron encallar el barco a como diera lugar."

When dawn arrived, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay that had a beach, where they decided to run the ship aground _____.

"Diera" is imperfect subjunctive of "dar." I know that '"dar lugar a" means "to cause" but this is not the phrase. Does "a como diera lugar" mean something like "no matter what" or "at any cost" or something simpler like "if they could"?

Thanks for any light you provide on this. It's from Hechos 27:39 (NVI)

Answer 1

Dogwood poses the interesting point about how different versions of the Bible offer different interpretations of the ancient texts, and you may see different nuances in different languages, too.

To me, "a como diera lugar" means what it says on the Word Reference discussion: "no matter what" - "by any means possible".

The translations found by Dogwood do not make such an emphasis, it just says that the boat was brought to the beach.

That is the most interesting prat of reading the Bible in Spanish to me: the way some passages are quite different! - LaBurra, Sep 2, 2011

Answer 2

La Burra, Dios Habla Hoy dice

"y decidieron tratar de arrimar el barco hacía allá"

Nueva Riena Valera 2000

" y acordaron echar la nave contra ella"

or "they decided to cast the ship against the (beach)".

The original text carries much maritime dialog on these related passages. I believe the original idea was "if they could" or "they would try".

I hope that helps, but I'll like to see what others say.

My typing is terrible today. Sorry! :) - 0066c384, Sep 2, 2011

Answer 3

Creo que "a como diera lugar" es como "one way or another".

Answer 4

I just found this in Word Reference: a como diera lugar