Mark 15:44

44 Pilate marveled if he were already dead: and calling to him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for a while.

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 When evening had now come, because it was the Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

43 Joseph of Arimathaea, a member of the council of honorable estate, who also himself was looking for the kingdom of God, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for Jesus' body.

44 Pilate marveled if he were already dead: and calling to him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for a while.

45 When he learned it from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

46 He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.