Charles Ellicott 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 steadfastly on him.—St. Luke’s characteristic word. (See Note on Acts 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 appearing in the form of young men (Mark 16:5). This interpretation, in turn, sheds some light on St. Stephen’s age (suggesting he was probably of a similar standing to St. Paul) and implies that his face was lighted up as if 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 (Esther 5:2). In 2 Samuel 14:17, the words refer to the wisdom of David rather than to anything visible and outward. Here, the impression left by St. Luke’s 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.