---
title: Philippians 1:23
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/philippians-1-23/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/philippians-1-23.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Philippians 1:23
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Philippians 1:23

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (1984 edition): "the releasing"
- NWT (2013 revision): "the releasing"

## JW Usage

Jehovah's Witnesses use Philippians 1:23 to support their soul-sleep doctrine by arguing that Paul was looking forward to the resurrection, not to an immediate conscious state after death. The NWT renders the verse with "the releasing" rather than "to depart," turning Paul's personal desire into an abstract noun that distances the act of dying from the experience of being with Christ. The Watchtower teaches that death is unconsciousness — the dead will not be conscious again until the resurrection — and that Paul's desire was simply for the future resurrection, not for immediate presence with Christ upon death.

## Protestant Usage

The Protestant reading emphasises Paul's logic: death equals being with Christ equals "far better." Paul presents three options — remain alive in fruitful ministry, depart and be with Christ, or eventually be resurrected — and says departing IS being with Christ, present tense and immediate. If death meant centuries of unconsciousness before being with Christ, it would not be "far better" than continued ministry — it would be nothing at all. You do not prefer nothing over fruitful ministry. The contrast in the passage is between two conscious states: alive in the body or consciously with Christ. There is no third state of unconsciousness in between. This is confirmed by 2 Corinthians 5:8 ("to become absent from the body and to make our home with the Lord") and by Jesus' own words to the thief on the cross: "today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43) — "today," not "at the resurrection." Paul's logic only works if death means immediate conscious presence with Christ.

## NWT Issue

The NWT renders the Greek articular infinitive eis to analysai ("to depart") as "the releasing," turning Paul's personal desire to depart into an abstract noun. Every major translation (ESV, NASB, NIV, KJV) renders this as "to depart and be with Christ" — two coordinated actions: departure and immediate presence with Christ. The NWT's rendering distances the act of dying from the experience of being with Christ, obscuring Paul's point that the two are connected and immediate. This supports the Watchtower's soul-sleep doctrine at the expense of the text's plain meaning.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [One Flock / Great Crowd in Heaven](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/one-flock.md) — John 10:16 / Revelation 7:9 [Eschatology]
- [Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/intermediate-state.md) — Philippians 1:23, 2 Corinthians 5:8 [Soul & Hell]
- [Souls Under the Altar Cry Out](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/revelation-6-souls-under-altar.md) — Revelation 6:9–11 [Soul & Hell]
- [Heaven Is the Presence of God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/heaven-is-presence-of-god.md) — Not a Gated Destination for 144,000 — Wherever God Is, Heaven Is [Salvation]
- [Hadēs Is Not the Grave](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/hades-the-grave-rendering.md) — Luke 16:23 / Revelation 1:18 — The NWT Collapses Two Greek Words Into One [NWT Translation]