Mark 15:39

κεντυρίων, a Latinism = centurio, for which Mt. and Lk. give the Greek ἑκατόνταρχος. ἐξ ἐναντίας (χώρας), right opposite Jesus, so that he could hear and see all distinctly. The thing that chiefly impressed him, according to Mk., was the manner of His death. οὕτως ἐξέπνευσεν = with a loud voice, as if life were still strong, and so much sooner than usual, as of one who, needing no Elijah to aid Him, could at will set Himself free from misery. This was a natural impression on the centurion's part, and patristic interpreters endorse it as true and important. Victor Ant. says that the loud voice showed that Jesus died κατʼ ἐξουσίαν, and Theophylact applies to the ἐξέπνευσεν the epithet δεσποτικῶς. But it may be questioned whether this view is in accord either with fact or with sound theology. What of the φέρουσι in Mark 15:22 ? And is there not something docetic in self-rescue from the pangs of the cross, instead of leaving the tragic experience to run its natural course? Mt.'s explanation of the wonder of the centurion, by the external events earthquake, etc. is, by comparison, secondary. Schanz characterises Mk.'s account as “schöner psychologisch” (psychologically finer).