To be absent (1553) (ekdemeo from ek = from or out of + demos = originally a “divided portion,” the division of a people or territory, the people as inhabitants of a land or city) literally means to be away from people. Ekdemeo originally described movement from a geographic location and was used in Greek with the meaning of to leave one's country or take a long journey. The Jewish historian Josephus writes that "Elisha the prophet, at that time, was gone out of his own country to Damascus". To leave. To be in exile. To be absent from a place where one normally belongs. To emigrate. To travel. Parepidemois meaning a sojourner is a derivative of demos. Moulton and Milligan - Greek secular uses - “but if we change our residence, or go abroad, we shall give notice,” “that no time be lost in his departure” Louw and Nida - ekdemeo ek to somatos = an idiom, literally ‘to leave home from the body’. Vine writes that ekdemeo... came to mean either (a) “to go abroad, depart”; the apostle Paul uses it to speak of departing from the body as the earthly abode of the spirit, 2Co 5:8; or (b) “to be away”; in the same passage, of being here in the body and absent from the Lord (2Co 5:6), or being absent from the body and present with the Lord (2Cor 5:8). Its other occurrence is in 2Cor 5:9. NIDNTT has this note on ekdemeo and endemeo... Paul longs for the fulfillment of Christ’s work and his parousia (2 Cor. 4:18; 5:10), when according to 1Co 15:43f., 48–53 he will receive a new → body. Now he contrasts here two realms of existence, or kinds of life, with one another: the this-worldly, present, earthly life, and the other-worldly, future, heavenly. In the present time he, like all men, has an earthly body: “we are at home in the body.” That means, however, at the same time that he is not living with Christ, in the other-worldly, heavenly sphere of existence. He is thus “away from the Lord”; he is as it were abroad, not among his own dēmos (people) to which he belongs. The clear and visible evidence of this is the earthly body in which he lives. Only in faith, which is a gift of God, a guarantee (2Co 5:5) of the world to come, can the gap between this world and that—or the present and the future—be bridged, and even then not visibly (2Co 5:7). For this reason there grows out of faith the desire and longing to be with Christ and to enjoy full fellowship with Him. This is possible only when one leaves this body, when one goes away from the body and comes to Christ, to be at home with the Lord (2Co 5:8). Then the Christian will live in full fellowship with the Lord. The present is therefore marked by the combination of “not yet” and “but already”: the Christian is not yet perfect, not yet with Christ, but (already) he lives by faith in the certain hope that the consummation will come, when he will be united with Christ. Always, however, whether in the future when at home with the Lord or in the present earthly life, away from home, Paul strives to be pleasing to Christ (2Co 5:9). From a stylistic point of view it is interesting to note how Paul plays throughout this passage on the verbs. ōendēme and ōekdēme and their reference to the present and future. (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan or Computer version) To be absent from the body - In context this means to die. Paul made a similar statement in his letter to the saints at Philippi... For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart (to die) and be with Christ, for that is very much better, yet to remain on in the flesh (to remain alive) is more necessary for your sake. (Php 1:21 22 23, 24) Comment: Note that Paul says that to depart and be with Christ is very much better, which would rule out non-Biblical teaching such as purgatory (associated with torture). That hypothetical state could hardly be described by Paul as very much better! Using the same reasoning, a prolonged state of "soul sleep" as some falsely teach occurs after death is in no way very much better! Matthew Henry expressed this same confidence that to die is gain in words he hoped would be read after his death by anyone who might unduly mourn his passing writing... Would you like to know where I am? I am at home in my Father’s house, in the mansions prepared for me here. I am where I want to be—no longer on the stormy sea, but in God’s safe, quiet harbor. My sowing time is done and I am reaping; my joy is as the joy of harvest. Would you like to know what I am doing? I see God, not as through a glass darkly, but face to face. I am engaged in the sweet enjoyment of my precious Redeemer. I am singing hallelujahs to Him who sits upon the throne, and I am constantly praising Him. Would you know what blessed company I keep? It is better than the best on earth. Here are the holy angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. I am with many of my old acquaintances with whom I worked and prayed, and who have come here before me. Lastly, would you know how long this will continue? It is a dawn that never fades! After millions and millions of ages, it will be as fresh as it is now. Therefore, weep not for me!”