15:44a

Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead is literally “Pilate was surprised that he was already dead.” The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the phrase to hear to make the clause natural English.

was surprised: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was surprised expresses surprise or amazement. Here it includes an element of doubt. Pilate was surprised or amazed to hear that Jesus had already died, and he sent for the centurion to confirm the report.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

was astonished/amazed that
-or-
wondered/marveled that

15:44b

so: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as so introduces what Pilate did as a result of what he heard from Joseph. He summoned the centurion to investigate. Connect 15:44b to 15:44a in a way that is natural in your language for this context.

he summoned the centurion: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as summoned here means “commanded to come.” The centurion was still by the cross, so Pilate sent someone to tell the centurion to come to him. The Revised English Bible translates this as:

sent for the centurion (Revised English Bible)

15:44c

to ask if this was so: In some languages, it may be natural to use direct speech for this question. For example:

…he/Pilate asked him, “Has Jesus already died?”
-or-
…he asked him, “Is it true that Jesus is already dead?”

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