Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 6:15

"And all that sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." — Acts 6:15 (ASV)

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

The face of an angel. This expression evidently denotes that he manifested evidence of sincerity, gravity, fearlessness, and confidence in God. It is used in the Old Testament to denote peculiar wisdom (2 Samuel 14:17; 2 Samuel 19:27). In Genesis 33:10, it is used to denote peculiar majesty and glory, as if it were the face of God. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai from communing with God, it is said that the skin of his face shone, so that the children of Israel were afraid to come near to him (Exodus 34:29–30; 2 Corinthians 3:7, 13).

(Matthew 17:2). The expression is used to denote the impression produced on the countenance by communion with God—the calm serenity and composure that follow a confident committing of all into His hands. It is not meant that there was anything miraculous in Stephen's case. Instead, it is an expression denoting his calmness, dignity, and confidence in God. All of these qualities were so marked on his countenance that they impressed them with clear proofs of his innocence and piety.

The expression is very common in Jewish writings. It is common for deep feeling, sincerity, and confidence in God to impress themselves on the countenance. Any deep emotion will do this. Indeed, it is to be expected that religious feeling—the most tender and solemn of all feelings—will diffuse seriousness, serenity, calmness, and peace (not affected sanctimoniousness) over the countenance.

In this chapter, we have another example of the way the church of the Lord Jesus was established on earth. From the beginning, it was amid scenes of persecution, encountering opposition suited to test the nature and power of religion.

If Christianity were an imposture, it had enemies acute and malignant enough to detect the deception. The learned, the cunning, and the mighty rose up in opposition. By all the arts of sophistry, all the force of authority, and all the fearsome power, they attempted to destroy it in its beginning. Yet it lived. It gained new increases in strength from every new form of opposition and only evinced its genuineness more and more by showing that it was superior to the arts and malice of earth and of hell.