“For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:”
I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better — thlibō (hard pressed) captures the tension between two goods. 'Depart' (analysai, literally 'untie' or 'break camp') echoes the soldier's readiness to move. His longing (epithymia) for Christ-presence is the deepest truth, yet he does not choose it. 'Far better' (pollō mallon kreitton) uses superlatives, emphasizing the vastly superior reality of unmediated Christ-encounter. Yet love binds him to earthly work.
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