One of These Days

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.

-- I Samuel 27: 1 (KJV)

The King James Version of the Bible has contributed so many words and phrases to English that it can be forgiven for occasionally trying to subtract one. In Miles Coverdale's 1535 translation of this verse, what David says in his heart is that "One of these days shall I fall into the hands of Saul." The 1611 rendition "one day," though more to the point, lacks Coverdale's je ne sais quoi.

In whichever version, David has more on his mind than future quotation -- namely, his own hide. Through ineptitude and insubordination Israel's first king, Saul, has severely alienated Yahweh, who transfers his spirit into a newly anointed leader, the shepherd David. At first, David acts to shore up Saul's power and mental health, but as David's power and renown increase over time, Saul grows madly jealous and ultimately murderous.

Through a series of dodges and ruses, David manages to escape his intended doom and even spares Saul when offered the chance to do away with him. But this cannot go on forever: "one of these days" Saul might catch up with him, so David resolves to flee into exile among his former enemies, the Philistines. Needless to say, he outsmarts them, too.

Even while "one of these days" has been a vaguely threatening catchphrase since Coverdale's day, the exasperated "one of those days" is of more recent vintage. It seems to have first appeared in writing in 1936, when Robert Peter Fleming, in News from Tartary: A Journey from Peking to Kashmir, described arriving at an inn after a hard day's trek, only to see the building next door collapse: "It was one of those days."

 
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Michael Macrone is Associate Site Producer of GraceCom and the author of nine books on language, literature, and ideas, including the best-selling Brush Up Your Shakespeare!