Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 6:15

And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

15. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him ] As they would naturally in expectation of what he was about to say in his defence.

saw his face as it had been the face of an angel ] Either because of the calm dignity which Stephen’s natural look displayed; he was calm and undisturbed, confident in his good cause and supported by the Spirit: or as his gaze soon afterwards (Act 7:56) beheld the open heavens and the glory of Christ enthroned on high, it may be that the sense in this verse is also supernatural, and that the face of Stephen was already illumined with the radiancy of the new Jerusalem.

For the expression cp. Act 7:20 note.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Looking stedfastly on him – Fixing the eyes intently on him. They were probably attracted by the unusual appearance of the man, his meekness, his calm and collected fearlessness, and the proofs of conscious innocence and sincerity.

The face of an angel – This expression is one evidently denoting that he manifested evidence of sincerity, gravity, fearlessness, confidence in God. It is used in the Old Testament to denote special wisdom, 2Sa 14:17; 2Sa 19:27. In Gen 33:10, it is used to denote special majesty and glory, as if it were the face of God. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, it is said that the skin of his face shone so that the children of Israel were afraid to come near him, Exo 34:29-30; 2Co 3:7, 2Co 3:13. Compare Rev 1:16; Mat 17:2. The expression is used to denote the impression produced on the countenance by communion with God; the calm serenity and composure which follow a confident committing of all into his hands. It is not meant that there was anything miraculous in the case of Stephen, but it is language that denotes calmness, dignity, and confidence in God, all of which were so marked on his countenance that it impressed them with clear proofs of his innocence and piety. The language is very common in the Jewish writings. It is not unusual for deep feeling, sincerity, and confidence in God, to impress themselves on the countenance. Any deep emotion will do this; and it is to be expected with religious feeling, the most tender and solemn of all feeling, will diffuse seriousness, serenity, calmness, and peace not affected sanctimoniousness, over the countenance.

In this chapter we have another specimen of the manner in which the church of the Lord Jesus was established. It was from the beginning amidst scenes of persecution, encountering opposition adapted to try the nature and power of religion. If Christianity was an imposture, it had enemies acute and malignant enough to detect the imposition. The learned, the cunning, and the mighty rose up in opposition, and by all the arts of sophistry, all the force of authority, and all the fearfulness of power, attempted to destroy it in the commencement. Yet it lived; it gained new accessions of strength from every new form of opposition; it evinced its genuineness more and more by showing that it was superior to the arts and malice of earth and of hell.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Act 6:15

And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly upon him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel

The martyr of Jesus

I. Stephens circumstances and transfiguration.

1. It was a.d. 37 that he died. The circumstances of that year in the government of the Jewish people were altogether exceptional. Pilate had left the country, and Judaea was, for the time, without any representation of the Imperial Government, and thus the power over life and property remained absolutely in the hands of the Jewish council.

2. Stephen, young, full of vigour, and as bold as he was intellectually strong, had stung into activity the furious hatred of the fiercest fanaticism. Foiled in argument, exposed to the jeers or contempt of those who watched the contest, they determined to have their revenge.

3. There were probably three component elements in the gathering of that fatal day..

(1) The mob of spectators no way uninterested in the trial. The question at issue was one which seemed to touch the quick of national exclusiveness–the tenderest point in a Jewish mind.

(2) The bench of judges, which included the rank and learning of the Jewish hierarchy. Some had grown old in the lore of Judaism; some were young in years but versed in the study of the law; all were the possessors of the sacred Scriptures, whose meaning was shrouded from them in the dismal fog of darkened minds; all were the slaves of an iron tradition and the victims of a distorting prejudice.

(3) Last in that strange assembly was one young man, with the hopes of life still fresh before him. With the joy, felt by all men who in any sense deserve it, of conscious strength and rectitude, he had committed an unpardonable crime; he had loved truth better than custom, faithfulness to conviction better than popularity; he had hated the stagnation of an unworthy tradition, and risen above the temper of the habitual respectability of his time.

4. The trial began. The witnesses were examined and performed their expected duty of falsehood. Then as the presidents interrogation came, the eyes of the assembly were turned on Stephen. Certainly Jesus was with him, and His promise, that the true words would be given in the hour of need, supported his spirit. Certainly heavenly powers were upon him, and the light of Gods glory was streaming through his soul. Every eye was riveted on the face of Stephen, and the vision of that inner splendour flashed upon them with an unearthly loveliness. His face was like the face of an angel. A face is the dial-plate of the soul. It takes the lights and shadows of varying feelings, hopes, and fears, and by expression records for others the inner variation of the movements of the soul. Hence the effect upon us frequently of a face in a crowd. Our eyes, resting for the moment upon the features of one happening then to be in rapturous joy or overwhelming sorrow, have rested–and we feel it–on the revelation of a human life. So some faces come to us, remembered indistinctly, and yet haunting our very dreams, moving us–by their slight and delicate tracery of pathos and suffering–moving us to the deepest, keenest sympathy. Now, what was the power of this face on which was riveted the gaze of the council? What? why, the angels are Gods messengers; they see the face of the Father; they catch some expression of the uncreated beauty. Once on earth that had been seen in its real loveliness. Once it had awed the multitudes, subdued the intrusive band in the garden, flashed on Peter and melted him to penitence, gazed on the Magdalene and wakened her to heavenly love; now the likeness of its loveliness was seen on the face of the martyr, because in his soul was Jesus the crucified.

II. His defence. The vision of the martyr was a mighty message; but his lips threw that message into words. There, at least, is outlined his message; there for us is trace his character. Note–

1. That earnest desire for truth which is the first real requisite to its attainment. To kindle curiosity, to keep alive an honourable ambition in the young, not merely for reward, but for the acquisition of knowledge, is the duty of every good teacher. To know and apply the best that has been done and thought by those before us is the duty of all of us. And this desire for knowledge, when sanctified and ennobled by a reverent spirit and eager thoughts of God–how beautiful, how good it is! Alas I the fashionable spirit of doubt and unbelief, so often a mere cover for the laziness of an utterly worldly temper, is turning the noble-hearted young men of England into mere childish triflers. St. Stephen had evidently desired truth, and searched and studied the Scriptures, and that eager and loving spirit had had its reward. One reward was the vigorous intellectual grasp of the subject which he had to handle with readiness and under the appalling pressure of a trial for life.

2. Turn to the speech itself.

(1) It indicates the noblest eloquence. True eloquence is one of Gods choicest gifts. To abuse it is always terrible; because the possession of no weapon can involve a greater responsibility than of that one by which a single mind can sway a multitude. But eloquence has its degrees; the truest is primarily and intrinsically the eloquence of thought. If clear and powerful thought–alive with the vis vivida of genuine pathos or fiery feeling, and expressed in shapely words–be presented to the ear and mind of man, he has the rarest and the best. And in such cases even all we possess is the written record; even then the words have something of a power of life to penetrate through the thickest wrappings of the human soul. This has been felt in Demosthenes, Cicero, Chrysostom, Bossuet, Massillon, and Lacordaire. From the few recorded words of St. Stephen we feel the same.

(2) Before the mind of the martyr was the vision of a world-wide religion, and this was in sharp contrast with the narrow and passing character of Judaism. Before his mind, also, was the true, the necessary, issue of the Mosaic teaching–viz., Christ and the wide reach and sacred sovereignty of the Catholic Church. The dignity of the speech was, of course, enhanced by the danger of the speaker; but in it, on the points of the argument, every syllable told. The subjects he handled needed all his vigour, as centuries have conclusively proved. They are just those subjects of the deepest importance which concern and interest us still–the character, office, and claim of the Church of our Master.

(3) Stephens elucidation of the meaning of Jewish history and worship was the fulfilling in word of the duty performed so nobly in his life, and so heroically in his death. In this he is to the humblest of us a splendid and real example. The beginning, middle, and end of that duty now as then, is–Jesus Christ. To be faithful to Him, in each of us, is to make sense of fact and of history. He gave a reasonable explanation to accepted facts. An everlasting Judaism, with all the rest of men excluded, would have been a senseless solution of the history of the Jewish Church. That Church was like a broken clue unless it eventuated in Catholic Christianity; Moses and his teaching would have been an insoluble problem unless worked out in Jesus Christ. The power of this first argumentative statement of these important truths was in the fact that it made Jewish history hang together; its astonishing dignity lay in this, that it was the first.

III. The force behind him and its effect.

1. No mental vigour on such a desperate crisis would have availed to any purpose unless it had been seconded by intrepidity of spirit. And this courage of St. Stephen was no physical excitement nor vulgar audacity. He was essaying the rugged and difficult track of Christian martyrdom on which many indeed have travelled after him, but none had passed before. And here be it not forgotten that we are scarcely conscious how strongly we are swayed by the voiceless testimony of those who have gone before. If public opinion is a mighty power in life, stronger at times is the public opinion of the dead. To feel behind him a long array of public witnesses, of tim achievements of brave generals and successful politicians, is for a soldier or a statesman to be confident in the inspiring genius of a great people. Noble ancestors help to noble deeds. And even in daily life, for some one else to have first succeeded, is to ourselves at least half the powerful element in our own success. Stephen, however, knew no merely human example; struggling for a cause, new, untried, and deemed altogether contemptible, he possessed his soul with a heroic patience, and bore his part with literally unexampled courage. Christian, do you flinch from the duty placed upon you? Think–around you is a cloud of witnesses; behind you the long array of the greatness and the suffering of the Christian Church. I pause in passing to remind you that as it is easy to follow a multitude to do evil, so it is not altogether difficult to go on the side of goodness if it chance to acquire the patronage of the majority. But the real test of principle, the real exhibition of Christian courage is, when standing alone, perhaps the object of scoffs and taunts, you sternly take the path of duty and witness to Jesus Christ.

2. Sternly, did I say?–that brings me to another feature in the martyrs character: its extraordinary wealth of tenderness. Tenderness in a Christian comes first–we cannot doubt it–from his sense of human weakness and human need. The scene at the death of St. Stephen reminds us of that at the death of Christ. And both are the outcome of the deepest tenderness; no mere softness of a natural kindliness, or a natural shrinking from others pain, but the true tenderness of a soul awakened to the depth of mans sorrows, and the greatness of his destiny.

3. Do you ask the secret of such a combination of tenderness and courage in any tempted man? There is one answer: An unshaken, a deep, a supernatural union with Jesus Christ. He first, in the fullest sense, obeyed the precept, or realised the prediction–Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.

4. Thus came the end. There are times when, from the spiritual blindness or the profound prejudice of an audience, the possibility of persuasion is gone. In such cases one duty remains to an honest man, the duty at all hazards of a faithful testimony. Such was the case with Stephen. All else tried in vain, this at last was left. It was the inspiration of such a duty that prompted his daring peroration. Obstinate resistance to Divine remonstrances had been their national, their historic danger; if persisted in, it was sure to be their ruin. At least they should be warned. Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, etc. Hell was opened upon the souls of the judges, but heaven was, not merely on the face, but in the heart and on the lips of the criminal. Not to bow before Divine revelation is to join the ranks of the rebel angels. The judges had chosen sides; so had the martyr!

IV. The issues of his martyrdom. A great life, even though it seems to end in failure, must have great consequences. Stephen was a pioneer in suffering and in the spread of truth. The immediate consequence was an open door to a wider world than the Church could act upon in Jerusalem, because there the door seemed closed. Stephen was the first to clear mens minds, in some measure, of the mistaken dream that Christianity must pass through Judaism. And further, the impression made by his courage and his constancy could not have failed to be deep and lasting on many minds. On one we know it was. Saul had heard words that longed in his mind and rankled in his memory; had seen a vision that he could not forget, a first faint outline, surely, of that face which afterwards he saw in completed dignity amid the noonday glory of the Damascus road. We know that, to the end of his days, in deep penitence, in touching humility, in most loving sorrow, the intense and tender nature of the great apostle was penetrated by the sad memory of the death of Stephen. The revelation of the richer details of results is reserved for that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed.

V. Lessons.

1. The soul must be true to itself. There may be a disloyalty to self, which is rather a spiritual suicide than a spiritual treason. Every soul seeking God faithfully is led by Him who is the Guide to truth. To be faithless to the voice that warns and teaches is so far forth to mar in us the image of the Eternal, and to paralyse spiritual power.

2. In the world of revealed faith all power of witness depends upon conviction. To act upon conviction is to work your lever from a fulcrum which affords scope to move a world. Conviction is the fruit of a temperate, a true, a prayerful life. Doubt is no basis of action. Do not trifle with your faith; hold prayerfully what you know; and pray, when there is any dimness, for the clearer light which is never withheld from those who earnestly seek it.

3. Act with courage upon conviction, and act with charity. The Christian needs unflinching firmness, with unflagging love. Whence come such powers so needed and so majestic? The answer is, from Christ.

4. Begin at once; begin now. None are too young to witness to Jesus. The young creature whose soul was battered out of the shattered body on that morning of martyrdom, might have pleaded youth as a reason for reserve. He did not. How noble, how beautiful, is a young life given to Christ!

5. When all possible struggle is over we may witness to Jesus by the calmness of a loving resignation. (Canon Knox-Little.)

Moses and Stephen: the Old Testament and the New

(text, and Exo 34:30):–In reading this account one is led to think of a similar scene in the life of Moses.

1. To be servants of the same God, they could scarcely be more unlike in their history, and they show in what divers ways the Divine workman may use his spiritual instruments. The life of Moses is probably the most complete of any mans. But not a single ray of light falls upon his death. Of the life of Stephen we know almost as little as of the death of Moses. But his last hours stand before us distinct and bright.

2. So unlike in other things, they have this in common, that each of them, on a great occasion, had a transfiguration–the reflection of the vision of God when He comes very near.

3. In setting these transfigurations over against one another, we have no thought of comparing the two men. Stephen fills a small range in the Book of God beside Moses. We shall compare them, then, in the periods to which they belong in Gods revelation. We may compare–

I. That view of God which is reflected from the face of each of them.

1. In the case of Moses it was Gods glory (Exo 33:18; Exo 33:22)–an appearance like that which was seen by him in the bush, and which hovered over the mercy-seat without any definite form, for one fixed aim of that dispensation was to check the tendency to shut up God in figures made with hands. It was a great and significant vision, raising the Mosaic system above all religions, and proclaiming that there is one God, who is light, and who yet can visit man in love. For corresponding to this vision came the voice with it (Exo 34:6-7). There was much that was reassuring, but much also that was doubtful. It revealed the purity of God, but the image had no distinct features; and it promised mercy, but the way of pardon was not made plain.

2. Stephen saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. The glory which Moses beheld has now opened its bosom, and, issuing from it, there is seen the brightness of the Fathers glory and the express image of His person. The purity which in the day of Moses had no distinct features has formed itself into the countenance of the Son of God, and the mysterious mercy descends from Gods throne by a new and living way in the person of the God-man Mediator, a Saviour risen from the Cross and grave.

3. These, then, were the views of God presented to Moses and Stephen. That the first was in the same line with the second cannot be doubted if we believe in the unity of the Bible and in the plan of God running through all the ages. It would be impossible to invert these views, for there was a fitness in their order.

II. The effect of the view on the immediate witnesses.

1. In the case of Moses the effect was mainly, if not entirely, an external brightness–the skin of his face shone. Its beauty had something of terror with it. Those who were near could not bear its open look, and required to have it veiled. Moses was the representative of a system which was not characterised by profound spirituality, as is proved by the sad stains and inconsistencies which mark the history of some of its best members, and the readiness of the great mass of its adherents to cast aside its profession in the hour of trial. In some few it was a strong reality, but in the majority their religion was an illumination cast on them from without–a separable and perishable surface thing.

2. The illumination on the face of Stephen came from the action of the soul itself. It is said, the children of Israel were afraid to come nigh Moses, but all that sat in the council looked steadfastly at Stephen. It did not turn them from their purpose, their passion was too fierce, but it brought them to a pause, imprinted itself upon them, and, may we not suppose, came back in waking thoughts and nightly dreams, and deserted some of them never till they saw it again before the throne of God? For there is this difference further between mere brightness of face and the beauty of the soul which beams through it, that the one is seen entire at first and grows no more. It tends constantly to fade, and must fade. But the souls expression grows evermore as we gaze into it, and it is in reminiscence above all that it rises to its perfect ideal. It was this angelic beauty which shone in the face of Stephen, and it was there because of the object he looked upon. His eyes were beautiful, because you saw that they saw Christ.

3. Now these two forms of transfiguration belong each to its own period. The one is bright but formless, the shadow of the Shechinah on him who sees it, and inspiring even its friends with awe till they can look no longer. The other is the beauty of the soul that has beheld Christ, distinct and expressive, reflecting His Divine purity and tenderness, so mild that even those who hate it cannot choose but look and wonder, and, when they would thrust it from the world, must stop their ears upon the voice of Stephen, and summon blind passion to do its work.

III. The crisis of life in which each of these transfigurations occurred.

1. In the history of Moses it was in the fulness of his power and success as a Divine messenger. Great through his whole history, he had never been so great to the eye of man as at this moment. He had scattered, as Gods vicegerent, disaster upon all opposition, and had led through the lied Sea an oppressed and terror-stricken nation to breathe into them a new life. He had been admitted amid scenes that, for outward grandeur, still stand unparalleled, into the closest intercourse with God, and the glory is there like Gods mark on his forehead to tell where he has been and with whom. This hour is also in the very height of his natural and intellectual life. Many men gain their hearts desire as Gods servants, only to die. Before Moses there lay stretched out years of usefulness and honour, which took their character and bore their results from this crowning period.

2. Stephen, on the contrary, is placed as a criminal before those who sat in Moses seat, and is charged with breaking in pieces the law which Moses gave. He has done nothing to shake the earth with wonder. He professes only to be a humble follower of One who died on a Cross. A cruel and ignominious death looks him full in the face. But the transfiguration of Stephen is far grander than that of Moses. The one is impressed with the temporal and external magnificence of the Old Testament, the other full of the spiritual glory of the New, which begins with a death as the salvation of the world, and shows us the shame of the Cross on its way to become the brightest crown in the universe. It is more honouring to the power of God to see it not merely sustaining a man in such terrible extremity but glorifying him. It is, indeed, most significant, that while, in the Old Testament, the approving light of God falls upon His servant in the midst of life, in the New it descends in the presence of death. It crowns him conqueror after a course of labour very ardent but very brief. Among Gods servants, those who fail in the outward life may rise to the highest rank in the spiritual, and the fore-glancing tokens of it can be granted here.

IV. The effects on the surrounding spectators.

1. The impression made on the Israelites by the view of Moses was at first very great. A growth of obedient homage took place that was rarely equalled in their history. But it had not much depth, and soon withered away. They had seen many more wonders in Egypt, and had equally forgotten them. They went on to murmur against God and against Moses.

2. In the case of Stephen it may seem as if the impression were still less. Those who saw his face as it had been that of an angel, did not spare his life. But we know how a look lives years after the face is hidden in the grave. We can scarcely doubt it was so here. Can we question that the look of Stephen burned its impression into the heart of Paul, and that from the martyrs death the living preacher rose with an angels power and zeal?

3. Here again these results are entirely characteristic of the two systems. The Old Testament began with outward demonstrations of the most striking kind, and they were needful in their time and place. But their effects were transitory. They served a purpose only as they helped the introduction of spiritual principles, in some such way as thunder accompanies spring showers, where the power lies not in the peal or the tremor, but in influences more gentle and less marked. Even in that ancient dispesation a practised ear can hear the words all through–Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord. And, in the New Testament, this mode of working becomes fully apparent. It begins with the death of Christ as the grand means by which men are to be drawn to God. It manifests its Teal strength in the meekness and patience of its humblest followers–in their calmness in trial, their fortitude in danger, their forgiving spirit to their enemies, their unquenehed hope in the presence of death. Outward demonstrations have their use, but they are only the band of clay round the young graft to keep it safe till the current of inner life has established itself.

V. The permanence of the transfigurations in the subjects of them.

1. The brightness in the face of Moses faded away into the light of ordinary life as he receded from the great vision. It partook in this of the transitory character of the dispensation to which he belonged, and had its brightest light turned to our world.

2. In Stephen it was no passing glimmer of a setting sun, but that lustre in the morning clouds which shows him before he is above the horizon, and which is lost only in perfect day. In the death of Stephen it is intended we should see how thin the veil is between the two worlds–how the Lord stands on the very confine, sending across His look and arm and voice, so that ere His servant left the earth he saw his heavenly Master, heard His words, and returned His smile. (J. Ker, D. D.)

The angelic glory on Stephens countenance

I. A resplendence of the glory of Christ, who says to His own In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, etc.

II. A radiation of the inner confidence of faith, which knows that if God be for us who can be against us?

III. A reflection of the future glory, with which the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be Compared. (K. Gerok.)

Man or angel

I. What was it men saw on the face of Stephen?

1. Not a supernatural aureola such, as the painters love to depict. But–

2. The transformation of the human by the Divine, according to the natural law which connects spiritual states with corresponding bodily manifestations. The most transient emotions and impulses will betray their presence thus; how much more, therefore, the more constant elements of character and disposition? The changes of expression upon the face are, next to speech, the surest index to that inward world of thought and feeling and will which affects so powerfully our entire outward life.

3. The transmission of the Divine through the human.

(1) In that upward gaze Pharisee and Sadducee were confronted with the reality of a spiritual world.

(2) It served to hold them spellbound until the grand remonstrance had been uttered–as when Bishop Stanley, of Norwich, faced the tumultuous mob at his cathedral door, or Marshman was borne from his sick bed to quell the Birmingham rioters by his gentle presence.

II. That of which this transfigured face was the prophecy and token. What if it were intended to present the chief end of man to be a minister and interpreter of the Divine? Who more adapted than he, standing as he does between two worlds, and enjoying if he wills the suffrages of both. (A. F. Muir, M. A.)

The angel-face on man

1. The Jews were familiar with angels, and knew that some of the greatest things in their national history had been accomplished by their agency. It was easy, therefore, for them to see any resemblance between a human creature and an angel of God.

2. Here is a man who had the look of an angel, and yet was still a man. Nay, in this trying yet favoured moment, he towered as it were to the height of his manhood, and put on all its bloom. It was Stephens beauty that shone in the face. It was the real qualities of Stephens character that made that beauty. It would seem, then, that a perfect man and an angel are brothers. Or say an imperfect man, in a mood of perfectness, or when he is wholly Christian, a child of God when he is looking homewards, And if this be the way of it, then surely there is many an angel-face on earth, and much beholding of the same from the higher spheres.

3. Of course we do not associate the angel-look with any particular style of face. We know nothing about the personal appearance of Stephen: only this seems plain, that such as he was in type and by Divine intention, that he now became with great clearness, and in becoming that, of necessity put on the likeness of the angel. Yet, I think we may say that there are certain things common to the angel-face on man amid all the endless variety of type and form.

I. Brightness. We cannot be wrong in supposing that there was something luminous on the face of Stephen. We always associate brightness with the angels. If they come like common men (as they did to Abraham on the plain), the veiled brightness soon begins to shine through. If they come in their own nature, and proper state, then the countenance is like lightning, and the raiment white as snow. If Stephens countenance had been dull or sad on that day, this in the text bad never been recorded of him. Why should any man wear darkness or heaviness on his face? There is something in the world which we may learn, there is something from God which we may have, that will change all to brightness. The true philosophy of life is to get the light within ourselves; and then to get the habit of looking for and seeing the light everywhere, according to that profound and beautiful Scripture, In Thy light shall we see light.

II. Calmness. Stephen was preternaturally calm in a scene of the utmost excitement. The test of a mans soul-state is often thus made very practical. He is tried by the pressure of the hour, by the hurry of the happening events. And it is not enough to have a general cheerfulness as the result of a survey of life and the world on the whole. There must be superiority to particular disquietudes, and a keeping of the heart in the stillness of grace, in the great and deep peace of God. It need not be disguised that this is sometimes a matter of supreme difficulty. But no one can hope to get the angel-face who furrows and flushes his own with daily excitements. The peace of God is to keep the heart and mind as a garrison is kept. Surely the helmet of salvation should keep the head cool and quiet. The very feet should be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

III. Benignity. This is the family likeness. For God is love, and told us so in the visible form of His Son. And he that loveth not is not of God, and cannot wear an angel-face. The devil wears a kind of shattered splendour on his face. He is intellectual, he is calm; but there is no flush of benignity on his face; and by a long course of rebellion he has forgotten how to love. But those who, like Stephen, learn the lesson at the feet of Christ, and practise it among those who return good for evil, and seek the salvation of souls, they put on the image of the heavenly, and look like what they are–the children of the King!

IV. Fearlessness. In Stephens case consequences were what we call fatal. But in the nomenclature of heaven fatal sometimes means vital. Courage in the highest sense always means safety. If an angel were here, to live for a while the life of a man, you would see what it is to be brave. You would see him pass through sorrows smiling, his heart borne up already with foretaste of the after-joy. Conclusion:

1. He who would have the angel-face must look high and far. He must learn to look not so much at things, as through them, to see what is in them, and what is beyond. In a little while Stephen looked steadfastly up into heaven. There is a look for a mortal man to give! A look which in his case was well rewarded, for He saw the glory of God, etc. And that look gave him final victory. Men were gnashing their teeth, etc., beside him; they did not know that to him the pains of death were over. He had looked himself into heaven. He had trodden the streets of gold. But this was not the first time he had looked into heaven. Ever since he became a believer he had been looking that way. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth. You find them everywhere–in daily duties, in commonest things–but it needs the angel-eye to see them. Be an angel, or be a child in this; for the little child is not unlike the angel in its looking. Did you never see it on the little face–that calm, dreamy, distant look, that pierces quite through your world, and transcends all your ideas of prudence, and care, and duty, with a sublime indifference which is none the less grand that it is so simple?

2. Of course it is quite vain to attempt to put it on–the angel-face–directly, and by mental intention, as a soldier puts on his armour, or a king his royal robe. Could anything more absurd be conceived than this, that a man should say, Now I am going to look like an angel! If you try to put any particular emotion into the features, it will not be suprising if the very opposite emotion should come instead. Try to look grand, and you may make yourself little. Try to look innocent, and (although you may not remember a single sin) the general consciousness of guilt may seize you and put its colour into your face. Have the angel within, and leave all else to come, as it will. Or, as in the case of Stephen, be full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, i.e., be a Christian man, through and through, and the Lord.. your God will put His beauty on you, in one or other of its many forms, and in some supreme moments of life, in suffering, in trial, in death, may give your friends beholding you the privilege and joy of looking as it were upon the face of an angel. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)

Character seen in the face

There is a natural effect of the states of the spirit upon the countenance, which gradually progresses, and which amounts in a lifetime to a transfiguration. The infant has no expression in its face of good or evil, because it feels no good or evil. As it grows into childhood, there is little to be read there, save sometimes an inherited grossness of feature moulded by ancestral brutishness, or some lines of spiritual or intellectual expression that come down from the father and the fathers father. Otherwise all is blank–the unspotted sheet on which many characters of exquisite beauty or unseemly blots may be thereafter marked. But as life progresses every deed seems to be written on the face. See how it is–

I. Is a life of vice.

1. Evil passions and deeds trace the handwriting of sin; and every crime deepens the lines, and every bad thought extends them further. Beastliness of habit makes a beastly face. Hatred and revenge ossify the features to their own hardness. Drunkenness puffs up the drunkards bloated face. The young have not written these characters on themselves so plainly as yet–they are hardly legible;–but age has imprinted them as indelibly as if they were carved in the rock. And this is the transfiguration of vice.

2. It is so perfect that there need be no other book of record for men than that which they write themselves upon themselves. Did Cain bear a mark on his forehead? It was the type or prediction of the thousands of marked brows which at the judgment shall require no testimony, and no sentence of the Judge, but shall, to all beholders, proclaim the sinfulness and the punishment.

3. Do we often enough think of this, that it requires not great crimes to debase the features of the form Divine, but that what we call little sins are just as surely day by day leaving their imprint? We suffer anger to possess us, and think that when it has passed we shall be the same. We cherish impure thoughts, supposing that they will in no way permanently affect us. We deceive our fellows without a thought that hypocrite will be written in our faces. How often are these said to be little things which will be like stains upon the hands, easily washed away! But there is truth in the thought that blood of murder will not wash from the palm, and an equal truth that our so-called little faults, too, do daily stain or mould our countenances. Take care, then, of the inward impurity, that it may not come to it; that not only God, who reads the heart, but men also who read the face, may see the wrong of a wrong life by its marks.

II. In the life of virtue.

1. This also is a change which may progress from the earliest age at which moral character can exist. And we have often seen the good mans goodness written upon his outward appearance, and his purity of heart, like a subtle ether, penetrating through until it has surrounded him with a kind of atmosphere, and sat upon his head like a halo. Have you not seen it?–gentleness on the brow; calmness and purpose in the eye; purity of heart on the lips; temperance stamped on the features; the love of man in every gesture; and love and faith toward God in the air and expression. It is seen more in the aged, for it is a change which grows through long years. It grows sooner in such as have borne pain and sorrow, since they are the native soil of virtue. But it is, more or less, in all who live good lives. It is the mark by which God marks His beloved. It is the transfiguration of virtue.

2. This, too, is an evident preparation for the judgment or life to come. For it is written by ourselves–our own handwriting on the white page in which we come to this world clothed; our own signature which we shall carry when we go hence. And shall we fail to write this lovely record as we live here?–by faith marking on ourselves the graceful letters of faith; by brotherly kindness writing it on our face; by excellent and passionless emotions smoothing our brows; by holy love illuminating the beauteous margin of the whole manuscript; by patience and pain providing the border of glory which shall appear in the white hairs which are, in the good, a crown of glory. Ah! it is ours to rise at the last day with Gods seal of baptism made a visible stamp on every feature by our daily fulfilment of baptismal vows. Conclusion: How does all this impress on us the folly of the thought that we can safely put off a holy life until near the end of life. Surely, if vice and virtue do thus stamp themselves upon the features, a man cannot for long years let avarice pinch his features and passions deform them, and then in a short time expect Gods Spirit to paint upon them the beauty of goodness. The evil spirits against which we strive are slowly to be killed and drawn forth; and the good that shall he unto life will be slowly planted and nourished. Begin early. For it were better for the saint even to die young and have the glow of heaven on his face, and see his Lord on the right hand of God, and say in rapture, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, than a long life would have been, even crowned with all worldly prosperity. (Bp. Phillips Brooks.)

The glory on the countenances of dying Christians

1. As the glorious setting of an earthly life, ended in the peace of God.

2. As the glorious rising of an approaching eternity with its heavenly light. (K. Gerok.)

The outward expression of the inward

It is said that Raphael, the great master of the beautiful, in sketching any figure or group of figures, gave his first attention to the drawing and modelling of the limbs, adding the draperies only after he had satisfied himself as to these. By this method he succeeded in imparting to them an air of inimitable ease and truthfulness. In like manner, grace, the character-creating principle, begins from within, gradually but surely harmonising the outward man with the laws of the new nature, and so producing that beauty of holiness which is so indescribable yet so familiar to us all. (A. F. Muir, M. A.)

Heaven in the face

A little boy going home one day, exulting in the fact that he had met Mr. Pennefather, was asked by his mother, What did he say to you? He said nothing, was the childs reply, but he beamed upon me. His singularly attractive power, however, was not confined to children. An importunate beggar, who was one day telling his tale of want to a party of travellers, suddenly caught sight of Mr. Pennefather, and prefaced his appeal with the exclamation, You, sir, with heaven in your face !

A face shining for the Lord

I cannot tell you the privilege it is to go forth as Christs messenger. I have lately returned from a visit to China, and it has been, not an occasional thing, but quite the usual thing, to find the missionaries full of blessing and boiling over. One who reached China about a year ago was not there very long before the natives gave him a name–Mr. Glory-face–because his face was always shining for the Lord. He left a large business in which over two thousand hands were employed. He left a very precious work for God, in which he had been happy and much blessed. But what was his testimony? The Lord promised me, he said, a hundredfold more than all I left for Him. He has given me a very large hundredfold. It has been the best investment I have ever made. (T. Hudson Taylor.)

Judged by the grace

An American minister quaintly said, Many Christians are like chestnuts: very pleasant nuts, but enclosed in very prickly burs, which require various dealings of nature and her grip of frost before the kernel is disclosed. This reminds me of an incident in my experience. Some years ago, when walking with a dear friend in the West-end of London, we happened to meet a lady truly eminent for her good works, but, alas I possessing a stern, sombre expression of countenance. I remarked to my friend, That lady is a very earnest Christian. She replied, I would not like to make her acquaintance, judging from her face. Here was one of Christs servants repelling instead of attracting to Himself. Truly it has been said, Gloominess, irritability, discontent, and touchiness are four things more catching than cholera..

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 15. Saw his face, as it had been the face of an angel.] Sayings like this are frequent among the Jewish writers, who represent God as distinguishing eminent men by causing a glory to shine from their faces. Rabbi Gedalia said that, “when Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh, they appeared like those angels which minister before the face of the Lord; for their stature appeared greater, and the splendour of their faces was like the sun, and their eyes like the wheels of the sun; their beard like clusters of grapes, and their words like thunder and lightning; and that, through fear of them, those who were present fell to the earth.”

The like is said of Moses, in Debarim Rabba, fol. 75. that “when Sammael (Satan) came to Moses, the splendour of his face was like the sun, and himself resembled an angel of God.” The reader may find several similar sayings in Schoettgen.

It appears that the light and power of God which dwelt in his soul shone through his face, and God gave them this proof of the falsity of the testimony which was now before them; for, as the face of Stephen now shone as the face of Moses did when he came down from the mount, it was the fullest proof that he had not spoken blasphemous words either against Moses or God, else this splendour of heaven had not rested upon him.

The history of the apostolic Church is a series of wonders. Every thing that could prevent such a Church from being established, or could overthrow it when established, is brought to bear against it. The instruments employed in its erection and defence had neither might nor power, but what came immediately from God. They work, and God works with them; the Church is founded and built up; and its adversaries, with every advantage in their favour, cannot overthrow it. Is it possible to look at this, without seeing the mighty hand of God in the whole? He permits devils and wicked men to work-to avail themselves of all their advantages, yet counterworks all their plots and designs, turns their weapons against themselves, and promotes his cause by the very means that were used to destroy it. How true is the saying, There is neither might nor counsel against the Lord!

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

With an extraordinary lustre and radiancy, above what appears in men, whereby they might be distinguished, as Mat 28:2,3, affecting the beholders with admiration; thus Mosess face did shine.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

15. as . . . the face of an angelaplay of supernatural radiance attesting to all who beheld hiscountenance the divine calm of the spirit within.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And all that sat in the council,…. The whole sanhedrim,

looking steadfastly on him; to observe whether his countenance altered, his tongue stammered, or he trembled in any part of his body, neither of which appeared; but on the contrary, they

saw his face, as if it had been the face of an angel. The Ethiopic version adds, “of God”; there was such a calmness and serenity in it, which showed his innocence and unconsciousness of guilt; and such a beauty and glory upon it, that he looked as lovely and amiable as the angels of God, who when they appeared to men, it was in very glorious and splendid forms: his face might shine as Moses’s did, when he came down from the mount; or in some degree as Christ’s did at his transfiguration; and this might, as it ought to have been, taken as an acquittance of him by God, from the charge of blasphemy, either against God or Moses: the Jews q say of Phinehas, that when the Holy Ghost was upon him, his face burned or shone like lamps, and Stephen was now full of the Holy Ghost, Ac 6:5.

q Ceseph. Misna in Maimon. Hilch. Teshuba, c. 9. & Vajikra Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 146. 1. & sect. 21. fol. 163. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

As if the face of an angel ( ). Even his enemies saw that, wicked as they were. See Ex 34:30 for the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai (2Co 3:7). Page quotes Tennyson: “God’s glory smote him on the face.” Where were Peter and John at this crisis? Apparently Stephen stands alone before the Sanhedrin as Jesus did. But he was not alone for he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Ac 7:56). There was little that Peter and John could have done if they had been present. Gamaliel did not interpose this time for the Pharisees were behind the charges against Stephen, false though they were as Gamaliel could have found out.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “And all that sat in the council,” (kai pantes hoi kathezomenoi en to sunedrio) “And all those who were sitting in the council,” the chief priests, the elders, the rulers of Israel, the Sanhedrin court in full array, Act 6:12; Act 4:1-7.

2) “Looking steadfastly on him,” (atenisantes eis autoun) “Were gazing intently at him,” had their eyes glued on him, much as the disciples of our Lord did when He ascended into heaven, at the wonder of it all, Act 1:10-11.

3) “Saw his face,” (eidon to prosopon autou) “Perceived or beheld his face with or in appearance,” radiant with a supernatural glow or lustre, Mat 17:2.

4) “As it had been the face of an angel,” (hosei prosopon angelou) “Just as or similar in appearance to that of an angel,” represented in art as a young person in the bloom of youth, or perhaps a pre-glow of peace and rapture glory such as was upon the face of Moses as the law was given, or upon Jesus, Moses, and Elijah at the transfiguration; 2Co 3:7; 2Co 3:18; Mat 17:2.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

15. And when they had beheld. Men do commonly in places of judgment turn their eyes toward the party arraigned, when as they look for his defense. He saith that Stephen appeared like to an angel; this is not spoken of his natural face, but rather of his present countenance. For whereas the countenance of those which are arraigned useth commonly to be pale, whereas they stammer in their speech, and show other signs of fear, Luke teacheth that there was no such thing in Stephen, but that there appeared rather in him a certain majesty. For the Scripture useth sometimes to borrow a similitude of angels in this sense; as 1Sa 24:9; 2Sa 14:17; 2Sa 19:27

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(15) Looking stedfastly on him.St Lukes characteristic word. (See Note on Act. 1:10.)

Saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.We can scarcely be wrong in tracing this description to the impression made at the time on St. Paul, and reported by him to St. Luke. It must be interpreted by the account given of angels as appearing in the form of young men (Mar. 16:5), and so throws some light upon St. Stephens age, as being, probably, about the same standing as St. Paul, and implies that his face was lighted up as by the radiance of a divine brightness. The phrase seems to have been more or less proverbial. In the expanded version of the Book of Esther, which appears in the LXX., she says to the King, as in reverential awe, I saw thee, O my lord, as an angel of God (Est. 5:2). In 2Sa. 14:17, the words refer to the wisdom of David rather than to anything visible and outward. Here the impression left by St. Lukes narrative is that the face of St. Stephen was illumined at once with the glow of an ardent zeal and the serenity of a higher wisdom.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15. All sat council Stephen now stands the focus upon which the eyes of the Sanhedric semicircle are concentrated. The victim stands, while the judges sit.

THE SANHEDRIN Directly facing him sits upon an elevated seat, at the middle point of the semicircular line, the high priest. It is probably no longer Caiaphas, who after twenty years of office had been deposed, but Theophilus, a son of Annas, and so a member of the same great Sadducean family who so long monopolized the supremacy at Jerusalem.

Face angel He who was accused of blaspheming Moses bears the radiance that authenticated Moses in his own face. (Exo 35:29-35.) It was a faint beam from that glory of which he spoke in Act 7:2, and which his own eyes beheld in Act 7:55. Awed by his beaming face the Sanhedrin gaze steadfastly on him, and for a while listen with rapt and silent attention.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And all who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.’

But when Stephen came before them they were astonished, for when they gazed at his face it looked like the face of an angel. This probably means that he was so filled with the sense of the presence of God that his face in some way shone (compare Dan 10:6; Mat 28:3). This need not be seen as a miracle, but it should certainly have reminded them of how when Moses came to the people with a message from God his face too had shone (Exo 34:29-35). They should therefore have realised that here was a man who had come to them with a message from God, and have been more open. He bore the truth of his own testimony on his face.

We should note how this phenomenon is brought into account later. Here they saw his face as though it was the face of an angel. In Act 7:53 the sentence against the Sanhedrin is that ‘they received the Law as it was ordained by angels and kept them not.’ Luke is bringing out how God was here giving the Sanhedrin a huge opportunity, speaking through His ‘angel’ (messenger), as He had previously to Israel when He gave them the Law. The point is that in the end they responded to neither. Here was God’s angel bringing a greater covenant, but they missed their opportunity once again.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Act 6:15. Saw his face, &c. Many commentators interpret this as a proverbial expression of the majesty and beauty of his countenance, arising from the transport of inward joy in the consciousness of his innocence, and the expectation of glory, though he had so cruel a sentence and execution in view. And upon this, the translation of 1729 takes the unpardonable liberty of rendering it, they saw an air of majesty in his aspect; but it seems rather to mean, that there was a supernatural splendour on his face, resembling that of Moses when he came down from conversing with God on mount Sinai. They reckoned that his preaching of Jesus to be the Christ, was to destroy both Moses and the law; and God bears witness to Stephen with the same glory as he did to Moses, when he gave the law by him. The Jews never devised or conceived any thing greater of their forefathers, or their most illustrious prophets, than what they now beheld in the countenance of Stephen. In this view, it was indeed a most astonishing instance of the incorrigible hardness and wickedness of their hearts, that they could murder a man on whom God put such a visible glory, similar to that of their patriarchs and prophets, and their great legislator in particular.

But we know what little impression other miracles made upon them, the truth of which they were compelled to acknowledge. See ch. Act 4:16.

Inferences.From the instance recorded in the first part of this chapter, we see how difficult it is, even for the wisest and best of men to manage a great multitude of affairs, without inconvenience, and without reflection. It will therefore be our prudence not to engross too much business into our own hands; but to be willing to divide it with our brethren and inferiors, allotting to each their proper province, that the whole may proceed with harmony and order.

How solicitous should we be against the doing any thing through partiality; but especially so, in the distribution of charities. It is a solemn trust, for which the characters at least of those concerned, are to answer to the world now, and which they themselves must, ere long, account for to God. Such persons therefore should be willing to receive information of the truth of particular cases; willing to compare a variety of them; and then select such as, in their consciences, they are persuaded it is the will of God they should in present circumstances regard, and in such or such proportion prefer to the rest.
In religious societies, it may be highly proper, that, after the example here given, proper persons to perform this office should be appointed: it is their business to serve tables. Happy those societies which make choice of men of an attested character, and evincing themselves to be full of the Holy Spirit, by the virtues and graces of a Christian temper.

While these good men are dealing forth their liberal contributions, the ministers should devote themselves with all attention to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Let those who would administer that word with comfort and success, remember of how great importance it is that it be watered with prayer, falling upon it as the former and latter rain, and especially see to it, that by the constant exercise of lively devotion, in secret, in their families, and on other proper social occasions, they keep their graces vigorous and active; that so, living continually in a state of nearness to God, they may be qualified to speak in his name with that dignity, tenderness, and authority, which nothing but true devotion can naturally express, or long retain.

Who can fail to adore that efficacy of divine grace, whereby a multitude of the Jewish priests were made obedient to the faith? Let us heartily pray, that if there be any who claim a sacred character, and who yet, out of regard to worldly things, oppose the power and purity of the gospel,they may be convinced by the influences of the blessed Spirit, that they can have no interest in contradiction to the truth; and that they are happy who purchase, at the highest price, that gospel which may enrich them for ever.

In whatsoever station we are fixed, whether in the world, or in the church, may we always remember our obligation to plead the cause of the gospel, and to render a reason of the hope that is in us! If this engage us in disputation with men of corrupt minds, we must still hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, as knowing He is faithful that hath promised. Heb 10:23.

The vilest charge, as we see in the chapter before us, may be fixed upon the most worthy men. Piety may be defamed as blasphemy; and that which is true love of our country, as treason against it. But (blessed consideration for the oppressed!) there is one supreme Lawgiver and Judge, who will not fail, sooner or later, to plead the cause of injured innocence. When we read therefore of this vile attack made by perjury upon the character and life of Stephen, we may take occasion to adore that wise and powerful Providence, which so remarkably exerts itself to defend our reputation and our lives against those false tongues which run through the earth, and which, were it not for that secret and invisible restraint, might, like a two-edged sword, so quickly destroy both.

How loud is the clamour here raised by malice and fraud against innocence and truth! Incessant blasphemy is charged on one of the most pious of men. And can we indeed wonder at it, when we reflect that thus it was charged even upon Christ himself? If they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household?His disciple learns of him not to render evil for evil, but answers their calumnies in the language of calm reason, and meek conviction.

REFLECTIONS.1st, The admirable peace and harmony of the church suffer some slight interruption, and yet good arises out of this great toil. We have,

1. The cause, whether real or imaginary, of the discontent which appeared among some of the members of the church. In those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied; for the sufferings of the apostles, so far from checking the progress of the gospel, proved its furtherance; there arose a murmuring of the Grecians, or Hellenist Jews, who were chiefly foreigners, and were so called from the Greek language, which they spoke, and used in their synagogues, against the Hebrews, who were inhabitants of Judea, and made use of the Hebrew language in reading the Old Testament; and they complained, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration, as if there was a partiality shewn to the poor who were Hebrews, and theirs either passed over; or scantily supplied. As the Hellenist Jews lay under some kind of disadvantage as foreigners, they were jealous lest they should be slighted; for those who are poor, are too apt to be querulous, to eye with jealousy what is bestowed on others, and to clamour, as if any kindness done to them was an injustice to themselves. Note; (1.) Money matters are too often the causes of much dissatisfaction even among those who profess to be dead to the world. (2.) In the best ordered church some imperfections will be found, and the most careful pastors may hear of some real or pretended cause of complaint.

2. The apostles propose an excellent expedient to remove all cause of murmuring; and this not only for the satisfaction of others, but for their own relief; their necessary employment, in preaching the word of God, being too much interrupted by minding these secular concerns. They assembled the multitude of the disciples, it being a matter of common concern, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables; these avocations of providing for the poor, diverting them too much from the great business of preaching the gospel, and governing the church. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint ever this business, men of established reputation and integrity, endued with a distinguished measure of the gifts and graces of the Spirit to enable them for the faithful discharge of their office, and whose wisdom and prudence are eminent, that they may manage the church’s stock to the greatest advantage. These were to be chosen by the people themselves, who could not afterwards reasonably find fault with the persons of their own appointment; and the apostles would ordain them to their office, that they might be invested with due authority, and that those who were concerned might know to whom they must apply in these matters: but we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word, as our more immediate and proper employment. Note; (1.) They who are appointed to any holy office, even the lowest in the church, may here behold the requisites thereto. They must be persons of blameless character, men of parts and abilities for the discharge of their trust, with wisdom, and above all experimentally acquainted with the grace of God in their souls, and partakers of the Holy Ghost. To ordain persons immoral, ignorant, destitute of experimental religion, and to count them fit for ministering in the church, who are fit for nothing else; how shocking! how contrary to the apostolical practice! and what a scandal must such be to the office they bear! (2.) Divested as much as possible of worldly cares, Christ’s immediate ambassadors should be occupied wholly in his work and the service of immortal souls, preaching his gospel in season and out of season, and watering with their prayers the labours of the pulpit, that God may give the increase.

3. The proposal met with general approbation, and, after serious deliberation, the church, with joint concurrence and perfect unanimity, made choice of seven persons, whose names are recited, and seem to be of the Hellenist Jews; which would most effectually serve to silence all future murmurings among them. Stephen stands first in the catalogue, with a most honourable testimony borne to him; he was full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, a man eminent for gifts and graces. Philip, who follows him, we find afterwards successfully employed in preaching the gospel, ch. 8: Of the rest we have no particular account, unless Nicolas, as some have suggested, was the founder of that sect which St. John mentions with abhorrence, Rev 2:6; Rev 2:15. These seven being presented to the apostles, they prayed with them and for them, that they might be qualified for their work, and approve themselves faithful, and then, by the imposition of hands, solemnly separated them for this service, to which they were chosen.

4. The church continued to increase greatly, the intestine murmurs being silenced, the apostles being more disencumbered, and all zealously attending to their several charges. Thus the gospel word spread its blessed influence around; the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem, where, during our Lord’s ministry, few comparatively seem to have believed in him; and what is still more astonishing, and to be reckoned among the chief wonders of grace, a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith, who had been the most inveterate enemies of Christ and his gospel, but now embraced the profession of Christianity, and proved, by their holy conversation, the unfeigned faith which was in them. Note; True faith in Jesus as a Saviour, ever produces sincere obedience to him as our Master.

2nd, Stephen, the first of the seven deacons, not only discharged the office to which he was appointed, but also appeared a zealous preacher of the gospel.
1. He was full of faith and power; endued with an eminent measure of courage and zeal for Christ, and, in confirmation of the truths that he preached, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

2. He appeared a bold disputant against those who opposed the cause of truth. There arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, such Jews as were honoured with the freedom of the city of Rome, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia, and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. These Hellenist Jews and proselytes, bring generally the greatest zealots for Judaism, and perhaps being eminently skilled in Grecian literature, thought they could soon confute and confound this zealous advocate for Christianity, and challenged him to a public disputation. Probably Saul of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, was among the foremost of them. Stephen declined not the opportunity of vindicating the glorious truths of the gospel; and this he did with such clearness of argument, force of reasoning, energy of diction, and piercing application, that they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake; confounded, silenced, and unable to make any reply which carried the shadow of argument.

3. Enraged at being thus baffled, and instigated by malice and revenge, they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God; endeavouring by perjury and murder to silence him for ever, whose arguments they felt themselves so utterly unable to answer. And, working upon their prejudices and passions, they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and in a popular tumult they came upon him, and caught him, as a criminal, and brought him to the council, as a blasphemer; and set up false witnesses which they had hired, and instructed what to swear against Stephen, who said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, the temple, and against the law. For we have heard him say, what fully amounts to the charge we produce against him, that this Jesus, the contemptible Nazarene, who was crucified, shall destroy this place, this sacred house, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us; abolishing all the ceremonial institutions of our celebrated law-giver, and introducing others of his own appointment in their stead.

Such was the charge; which, if real, was far from amounting to blasphemy; and these things actually came to pass; though probably even in this they falsified, as the apostles themselves seem not to have been yet apprized, that the ceremonial law should be utterly abolished; but whatever he might have said, we may suppose they put upon it the more malicious construction that it would bear. Note; It is no new thing for the faithful preachers of the gospel to be branded as blasphemers; and it is only wonderful that, when the enemies of the gospel make no conscience of an oath, they do not by more frequent perjuries attempt to blacken or destroy those whom they so much abhor.

4. God owned his suffering servant by a signal mark of his favour, visible even to his persecutors. All that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, to observe if he betrayed any tokens of fear or guilt, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel; such deliberate courage, such undisturbed serenity, such majesty and mildness sat on his countenance; nay more, a divine splendour beamed from it, like that of Moses when he came from the mount, and seemed to make him appear more than human.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Act 6:15 . All the Sanhedrists [188] saw the countenance of Stephen angelically glorified; a superhuman, angel-like became externally visible to them on it. So Luke has conceived and represented it with simple definiteness; so the serene calm which astonished even the Sanhedrists, and the holy joyfulness which was reflected from the heart of the martyr in his countenance, have been glorified by the symbolism of Christian legend. But it would be arbitrary, with Kuinoel (comp. Grotius and Heinrichs), to rationalize the meaning of to this effect: “Os animi tranquillitatem summam referebat, adeo ut eum intuentibus reverentiam injiceret;” according to which the expression would have to be referred, with Neander and de Wette, to a poetically symbolical description , which does not correspond with the otherwise simple style of the narrative. The phenomenon was certainly “an extraordinary operation of the Spirit of Jesus” (Baumgarten, p. 130); but the form of it is added by tradition, which betrays the point of view of the miraculous also by the . The parallel adduced afresh by Olshausen (2Sa 14:17 ) is utterly unsuitable, because there the comparison to an angel relates to wisdom , and not to anything external. Nor is the analogy of the in the face of Moses (2Co 3:7 ) suitable, on account of the characteristic . . For Rabbinical analogies, see Schoettgen and Wetstein.

[188] : “usitatum est in judiciis oculos in reum convertere, quum expectatur ejus defensio,” Calvin .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

REFLECTIONS

Reader! ponder well even in this golden age of the Church, how tarnished with abuse the Lord’s mercies were, when murmurings arose from partial ministrations of the good things of God’s providences. Behold from it, my soul, and learn what a mass of corruption, the unrenewed part of our fallen nature is, and what a handle Satan makes of it to interrupt the peace of the Church! But learn also, how the Lord the Spirit takes occasion therefrom, to raise improvements for his people. The appointment of inferior officers in the Church of Christ, took its rise from hence. And in how many instances, have they since that time, proved a blessing. But what a sweet relief ought such views of the imperfection of the best of Churches bring to the mind, in the recollection, that amidst all the errors of men, the Lord’s truth is the same; and, however brethren, through the infirmity of a fallen nature, may neglect one another; Jesus never overlooks, or neglects his people. Precious Lord Jesus! let me never lose sight of this.

Happy and prosperous is that Church of Christ, where men of good report, and full of the Holy Ghost, minister in her government, and are helpful to the Lord’s family. And blessed must be those ordinances, where faithful pastors, like the Apostles, give themselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. Not serving tables, and mingling with the carnal, and learning their works; neither as being lords over God’s heritage; but being ensamples to the flock, in word, in conversation, in faith, in charity.

Oh! for the faith of Stephen, to be valiant for the truth, amidst all the libertines of the present day. Jesus will own and bless all such. Their witness is in heaven, and their record on high. And, though a brightness like that of Stephen, may not, because it is needed not, shine upon their countenances, to the view of their foes; yet, the Lord will cause their eyes to be so directed to Him in faith, that their souls will be enlightened, and their faces shall not be ashamed.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Ver. 15. As it had been the face of an angel ] Such was the purity of his conscience, the goodness of his cause, and the greatness of his courage. There is a history of a Dutch martyr, who calling to the judge that had sentenced him to the fire, desired him to lay his hand upon his heart; and then asked him whose heart did most beat, his or the judge’s? Many of the martyrs went with as good cheer to die as to dine. Cromwell going to his death, ate a hearty breakfast, Ridley called it his weddingday. And another, clipping the stake he was burnt at, said, “Welcome, mine own sweet wife, welcome the cross of Christ.”

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

15 .] It is a question with regard to this verse, Does it relate any supernatural appearance, glorifying the face of Stephen , or merely describe the calm and holy aspect with which he stood before the council? The majority of Commentators suppose the latter: and certainly the foregoing description of Stephen would lead us to infer, that there was something remarkably striking in his appearance and demeanour, which overawed his adversaries. But both from the plain language of our text, well understood among the Jews to signify supernatural brightness (see examples in Wetstein), and from the fact that in Luke’s own narrative we have supernatural brightness associated with angelic appearances more than once (see Luk 2:9 ; ch. Act 12:7 ), I should be inclined to think that the face of the martyr was lighted up with a divine radiance . That the effect on those present was not such as to prevent the examination proceeding, is no argument against this view: in the very mildness of the question of the H. P. which follows, I see the trace of some unusual incident exercising an influence over him. Chrysostom (who does not, however, seem to adopt the above interpretation, his being apparently only rhetorical) explains well the effect on the council: , , . , , . , . ; ; In Act. Homil. xv. p. 120.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Act 6:15 . , see above on Act 1:10 . , cf. LXX, Est 5:2 , where Esther says to the king in reverence , ; in 2Sa 14:17 ; 2Sa 14:20 , the reference is not to outward appearance, but to inward discernment (see Wetstein, who refers also to Gen 33:10 , and quotes other instances from the Rabbis, e.g. , Dixit R. Nathanael: parentes Mosis viderunt pulchritudinem ejus tanquam angeli Domini: and we have the same expression used by St. Paul in Acta Pauli et Thekl , 2; . See too Schttgen, in loco . R. Gedalja speaks of Moses and Aaron when they came to Pharaoh as angels ministering before God). At such a moment when Stephen was called upon to plead for the truth at the risk of his life, and when not only the calmness and strength of his convictions, but also the grace, the beauty of his Master, and the power of His spirit rested upon him, such a description was no exaggeration, cf. a striking passage in Dr. Liddon’s Some Elements of Religion , p. 180. It was said of the aged Polycarp, as he faced a martyr’s death: and “to have lived in spirit on Mount Tabor during the years of a long life, is to have caught in its closing hours some rays of the glory of the Transfiguration”. But if the brightness on the face of St. Stephen is represented by St. Luke as supernatural (as Wendt admits), we are not called upon to conclude that such a description is due to the glorification of the Saint in Christian legend: “the occasion was worthy of the miracle,” the ministration of the Spirit, , in which St. Stephen had shared, might well exceed in glory; and a brightness like that on the face of Moses, above the brightness of the sun, might well have shone upon one who like the angels beheld the face of the Father in heaven, and to whom the glory of the Lord had been revealed: “As if in refutation of the charge made against him, Stephen receives the same mark of divine favour which had been granted to Moses” (Humphry). St. Chrysostom speaks of the face of Stephen as being terrible to the Jews, but lovable and wonderful to the Christians ( cf. Theophylact, in loco ). But although St. Stephen’s words must afterwards have proved terrible to his opponents, we scarcely associate the thought of terror with the verse before us; we may speak of such faces as that of the proto-martyr as but scarcely as . It is possible that the representation of St. Stephen in sacred art as a young man may be due to this comparison of his face to that of an angel, angels being always represented as in the bloom of youth (Dr. Moore, Studies in Dante , first series, p. 84).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

looking stedfastly = fastening their eyes. App-133. Compare Act 1:10.

saw. App-133.

as it had been = as if.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

15.] It is a question with regard to this verse, Does it relate any supernatural appearance, glorifying the face of Stephen,-or merely describe the calm and holy aspect with which he stood before the council? The majority of Commentators suppose the latter: and certainly the foregoing description of Stephen would lead us to infer, that there was something remarkably striking in his appearance and demeanour, which overawed his adversaries. But both from the plain language of our text, well understood among the Jews to signify supernatural brightness (see examples in Wetstein), and from the fact that in Lukes own narrative we have supernatural brightness associated with angelic appearances more than once (see Luk 2:9; ch. Act 12:7), I should be inclined to think that the face of the martyr was lighted up with a divine radiance. That the effect on those present was not such as to prevent the examination proceeding, is no argument against this view: in the very mildness of the question of the H. P. which follows, I see the trace of some unusual incident exercising an influence over him. Chrysostom (who does not, however, seem to adopt the above interpretation, his being apparently only rhetorical) explains well the effect on the council: , , . , , . , . ; ; In Act. Homil. xv. p. 120.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Act 6:15. , as it were the face of an angel) The hidden glory of believers often shines forth even from their body, especially from a high cross, and in heaven. Even the face of Moses shone. Scripture, when it praises anything extraordinarily, calls it divine, or belonging to God; ch. Act 7:20; or at least angelic: and splendour (brightness) is ascribed to the angels, and the angels were, without doubt, attending on Stephen.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

angel

(See Scofield “Heb 1:4”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

saw: Exo 34:29-35, Ecc 8:1, Mat 13:43, Mat 17:2, 2Co 3:7, 2Co 3:8, 2Co 3:18

Reciprocal: Jdg 13:6 – countenance was Pro 31:26 – in her Dan 3:15 – we are Mar 13:11 – take Luk 9:29 – General Act 6:8 – full Act 23:1 – earnestly 1Ti 3:13 – great

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

5

Act 6:15. Angel is from ANGELOS, and its primary meaning Is, “A messenger, one who is sent,” according to both Thayer and Robinson. There could be nothing in the face of a man from the physical standpoint that would show any indication of his being a messenger, except when considered on the negative basis. Had Stephen been guilty of the evil things charged against him, his face or countenance would have reflected it, for he certainly would have had “a guilty look.” Instead of such an expression, the countenance of this righteous man had the appearance of one who was faithfully delivering the message (the business of an angel) of Him whose truth was offered for man’s benefit. Stephen was not cowed or in the least intimidated by the brazen stare fixed toward him by the crowd in the council.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Act 6:15. Saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. And the whole of that great council turned their earnest and excited gaze from the accusers to the accused, to see how the follower of the Crucified would look, charged with so grave a charge, now brought face to face with the rulers of his people; and to their surprise and awe, no troubled anxious gaze met theirs; for over the features of the servant of Jesus had passed a radiance not belonging to this world, a light at once beautiful and terrible, which these men could only compare to the light which their Divine story told them used to play round the forehead of Moses when he came from the presence of the Eternal. Many have attempted to show that nothing more is intended by the words his face as it had been the face of an angel, than a description of the calm and holy aspect of the first martyr as he stood before his judges. But the expression in the Acts points to something more than this, for, as Hackett observes, the comparison is an unusual one, and the Jews supposed the visible appearance of angels to correspond with their superhuman rank (see Act 1:10; Mat 28:3; Luk 24:4; Rev 18:1). The countenance of Stephen, like that of Moses on his descent from the Mount, shone probably with a preternatural lustre proclaiming him a true witness, a servant of Him whose glory was so fitly symbolized by such a token. The occasion was worthy of the miracle.

St. Augustine beautifully writes of the martyrs transfigured face: O lamb, foremost (of the flock of Christ), fighting in the midst of wolves, following after the Lord, but still at a distance from Him, and already the angels friend. Yes, how clearly was he the angels friend who, while in the very midst of the wolves, still seemed like an angel; for so transfigured was he by the rays of the Sun of Righteousness, that even to his enemies he seemed a being not of this world.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

A Face Like an Angel

Perhaps Paul reported to Luke the remarkable appearance of the face of Stephen. Luke told Theophilus that those in the council saw Stephen’s face “as the face of an angel.” The closest thing to this experience is found in Exo 34:29-35 which reports that Moses’ face shone after he had been with the Lord to the point that people could not look directly at him. Despite Stephen’s appearance, the high priest asked him if the accusations of blasphemy, which had been brought against him, were true ( Act 6:15 ; Act 7:1 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Act 6:15. And all that sat in the council The priests, rulers, scribes, and elders; looking steadfastly on him As being a stranger, and one whom they had not till now had before them, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel Covered with a supernatural lustre, like that which appeared on the face of our Lord when he was transfigured, or at least that of Mosess face, when he came down from the mount. Hereby God designed to put honour on his faithful witness, and confusion on his persecutors and judges, whose sin would be highly aggravated, and would indeed be rebellion against the visible glory of God, if, notwithstanding this, they proceeded against him. They reckoned his preaching of Jesus as the Christ, was destroying both Moses and the law; and God bears witness to him with the same glory as he did to Moses, when he gave the law by him. And it was an astonishing instance of the incorrigible hardness and wickedness of their hearts, that they could murder a man on whom God put such a visible glory, similar to that of their great legislator. But we know what little impression other miracles made upon them, the truth of which they were compelled to acknowledge.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

15. As Stephen stood before the Sanhedrim, thus falsely and hypocritically accused, and fully aware of a determination to condemn him without regard to evidence or justice, he could but remember the similar accusation of Jesus, of Peter and John, then of all the apostles; and his heart must have swelled at the thought of being identified with them in suffering. The baseness of his persecutors-who, under pretense of zeal for Moses and the law, were violating the one and dishonoring the other, by seeking the lives of the only men who believed his words-must have filled him with indignation, while love for the truth which he was defending, and for the Redeemer for whom he was suffering, was kindled afresh, and the power of a glorious hope inspired him with the most invincible courage. Emotions so intense and so lofty spread a glow upon his countenance which attracted the attention of the whole audience. (15) “And all who sat in the Sanhedrim, looking earnestly upon him, saw his face as if it were the face of an angel.” There is no need to suppose anything supernatural in his appearance, such as a halo of light enveloping his countenance; for a countenance naturally fine and expressive, when lit up by emotions so intense and heavenly as those which must then have swelled the breast of Stephen, would be sufficient to suggest such a comparison. If there were any brethren present, with what tearful delight they must then have gazed upon the hero of faith! And if any of the members of the Sanhedrim were still capable of nobler sentiments, how intense must have been their agitation! The trial proceeds:

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

15. And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin, looking upon him, saw his countenance as the face of an angel. Now, remember, that the popular preachers, standing at the head of the churches, persecute Stephen unto death. Why did they not desist when they see the very glory of God radiant in his countenance? The solution is very simple, they did not have the discernment of the Holy Ghost, hence they mistook the very glory of heaven radiant from his countenance for his own mean, stubborn, self- willed, contrary spirit, which convinced them the more that he deserved to die for disloyalty to the church.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 15

Saw his face, &c. It beamed with an expression of holy peace and joy.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

6:15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, {i} saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

(i) By this it appears that Steven had an excellent and wholesome countenance, having a quiet and settled mind, a good conscience, and certain conviction that his cause was just: for seeing as he was to speak before the people, God beautified his countenance, so that by the very beholding of him the Jews’ minds might be penetrated and amazed.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Luke may have intended to stress Stephen’s fullness with the Holy Spirit that resulted in his confidence, composure, and courage by drawing attention to his face. Moses’ face similarly shone when he descended from Mt. Sinai after seeing God (cf. Act 7:55-56; Exo 34:29; Exo 34:35). Perhaps Stephen’s hearers recalled Moses’ shining face. If so, they should have concluded that Stephen was not against Moses but like Moses. Stephen proceeded to function as an angel (a messenger from God), as well as looking like one, by bringing new revelation to his hearers, as Moses had. The Old Covenant had come through angelic mediation at Mt. Sinai (Deu 33:2 LXX; cf. Heb 2:2). Now revelation about the New Covenant was coming through one who acted like and even looked like an angel.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)