Mark 15:44

44 And Pilate wondered if he was already dead: and calling the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.

Mark 15:44 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 15:44

And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead
For death, by crucifixion, was a slow lingering death; persons that were in their full strength hung a great while before they expired; and the two thieves, which were crucified with Christ, were not dead when he was:

and calling unto him the centurion;
who was set to watch him:

he asked him, whether he had been any while dead;
he inquired of him, whether he was dead, and how long he had been dead.

Mark 15:44 In-Context

42 And now, when the evening was come, (because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath)

43 Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, who also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly to Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.

44 And Pilate wondered if he was already dead: and calling the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.

45 And when he knew [it] from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.

46 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped [him] in the linen, and laid him in a sepulcher which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone to the door of the sepulcher.