Philippians 1:23 - Exposition

For I am in a strait betwixt two ; rather, but (so the best manuscripts) I am straitened , hemmed in (Bishop Lightfoot) betwixt the two alternatives, life and death, pressing upon me, constraining me on either side. Having a desire to depart ; having my desire set towards departing εἰς τὸ ἀναλῦσαι ) . The word occurs again in 2 Timothy 4:6 , ὁ καιρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς ἀναλύσεως It is used of a ship, to loose from its moorings; or a camp, to break up; comp. 2 Corinthians 5:1 , "If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved ( καταλυθῇ ) . " Probably here the metaphor is taken from tent life; to loosen, to remove the tent, the temporary abode, in the journey to the heavenly city. And to be with Christ . The holy dead are with Christ, they rest from their labors; they live unto God ( Luke 20:38 ); they do not sleep idly without consciousness, for they are described in Holy Scripture as witnesses ( Hebrews 12:1 ) of the race set before living Christians (comp. also 2 Corinthians 5:6 , 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Acts 7:59 ). Yet they are elsewhere described as sleeping ( 1 Corinthians 15:51 , 1 Corinthians 15:52 ; 1 Thessalonians 4:14 , 1 Thessalonians 4:15 ); for the rest of the spirits of just men in Paradise is as a sleep compared with the perfect consummation and bliss of God's elect, both in body and soul, in his everlasting glory. Which is far better ; read and translate, for it is by much very far better. He piles up comparatives, as if unable to find words capable of expressing the glory of his hope.