Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 5:4

"For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life." — 2 Corinthians 5:4 (ASV)

Being burdened.—The whole passage is strikingly parallel to Wisdom 9:15: “The corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things.” The Wisdom of Solomon, which no writer quotes before Clement of Rome, had probably been written only recently (possibly, as I believe, by Apollos), but St. Paul may well have become acquainted with it.

Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon.—Better, Seeing that we do not seek to put off, but to put on a garment. The thought is that of one who thinks that the Coming of the Lord is near. He wishes, as he expects, to remain until that Coming (compare 1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:15), to let the incorruptible body be put on over the corruptible, to be changed instead of dying. In this way that which is mortal, subject to death, would be swallowed up of life, as death itself is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54).