Philippians 1:23

συνέχομαι δέ (with most authorr.). δέ = “rather”. Cf. Romans 4:20. συνέχ. ἐκ. Apparently the idea is that of a strong pressure bearing upon him from (ἐκ the source) two sides and keeping him motionless. ἐπιθυμ. εἰς. Cf. Thuc., iv., 81, ἐπιθυμίαν ἐνεποίει τοῖς Ἀθην. συμμάχοις ἐς τοὺς Λακεδ. ἀναλῦσαι. Aor. of momentary action (see Burton, MT [56], p. 50). Only here in N.T. in this sense. Cf. 2 Timothy 4:6, ἀνάλυσιν; Philo, Flacc. ad fin., τὴν ἐκ τοῦ βίου τελευταίαν ἀνάλυσιν. Frequent in LXX and late Greek = depart. In Polyb. it usually means castra movere. σὺν Χ. εἶναι. From this passage and 2 Corinthians 5:8 (but see also 1 Thessalonians 5:10) as compared with others, e.g., 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 15:51, Beyschl. (N.T. Theol., ii., 269 ff.), Teichmann (op. cit. pp. 57 59), Grafe (Abhandl. C. v. Weizsäcker gewidm., p. 276) and others conclude that the Apostle changed his views on eschatology in his later years, and esp [57] when death stared him in the face. Instead of supposing a sleep (κοιμᾶσθαι) until the Parousia, or else the direct experience of that event, he now believes that after death the soul is immediately united to Christ. It is, however, hazardous to build up eschatological theories on these isolated utterances of the Apostle. He has, apparently, no fixed scheme of thought on the subject. The Resurrection is not before his mind at all in this passage. His eschatology, as Dsm [58] (Th. LZ [59], 1898, col. 14) well observes, must rather be conceived as ἐλπίς. Death cannot interrupt the life ἐν Χριστῷ. This is the preparation for being σὺν Χ. Even contemporary Jewish thought was familiar with a similar idea. So, e.g., Tanchuma, Wajjikra, 8: “When the righteous leave the world they ascend at once and stand on high” (Weber, Lehren d. Talmud, p. 323). See also Charles, Eschatology, p. 399 ff. πολλῷ κ. τ. λ. It seems necessary for the sense to insert γάρ with the best authorities. The double comparat. is fairly common.

[56] Moods and Tenses (Burton, Goodwin).

[57] especially.

[58] Deissmann (BS. = Bibelstudien, NBS. = Neue Bibelstudien).

[59] Theologische Literaturzeitung.