Acts 6:15

And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. AND ALL THAT SAT IN THE COUNCIL, LOOKING STEDFASTLY ON HIM, SAW HIS FACE AS IT HAD BEEN THE FACE OF AN ANGEL - a play of heavenly radiance attesting to all who beheld his countenance the divine calm of the spirit within-the fruit of the felt presence of his glorified Lord. This shining countenance (says Chrysostom) was the glory of Moses too; and Humphry well observes that, as if in refutation of the charge of hostility to Moses, he receives the same mark of divine favour which had been vouchsafed to Moses () - "And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid, to come nigh him." Remarks: (1) 'How prominently (we here adopt the excellent remark of Lechler)...

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 1 Samuel 24:9; 2 Samuel 14:17; 2 Samuel 19:27...

8-15 When they could not answer Stephen's arguments as a disputant, they prosecuted him as a criminal, and brought false witnesses against him. And it is next to a miracle of providence, that no greater number of religious persons have been murdered in the world, by the way of perjury and pretence of law, when so many thousands hate them, who make no conscience of false oaths. Wisdom and holiness make a man's face to shine, yet will not secure men from being treated badly. What shall we say of man, a rational being, yet attempting to uphold a religious system by false witness and murder! And this has been done in numberless instances. But the blame rests not so much upon the understanding, as upon the heart of a fallen creature, which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Yet the servant of the Lord, possessing a clear conscience, cheerful hope, and Divine consolations, m...

Verse Acts 6:15. _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 a

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, 2 Samuel 14:17; 2 Samuel 19:27. In Genesis 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

EXPOSITION ACTS 6:1 _Now in these _for _and in those, _A.V. (it is not ἐκείναις_, _answering to מהֵהָ מימַיָבַּ, but ταύταις); _multiplying _for _multiplied, _A.V._; Grecian Jews _for _Grecians, _A.V._ _THE GRECIAN JEWS; _the Hellenists, _for this is the appellation of them in the Greek; it means properly those who spoke Greek or otherwise followed Greek usages, applied to foreigners, here of course to Jews. Of a similar form and meaning is the word "to Judaize," translated "to live as do the Jews" (A.V., Galatians 2:14), and the forms "to Demosthenize," "to Platonize," "to Atticize," etc. The Hellenists were those Jews of the dispersion who lived in countries where Greek was spoken, and who th

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 P...

ANGEL (_ See Scofield) - (Hebrews 1:4). _...

ACTS 6:15 avgge,lou After w`sei. pro,swpon avgge,lou the Greek text of codex Bezae (supported by ith copG67) adds the phrase e`stw/toj evn me,sw| auvtw/n (“all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel _standing in their midst_”). Since, however, the Latin text of Bezae reads _stans in medio eorum,_ Harris argues 153 that the nominative form of the participle shows that the gloss originally belonged to the first verse of the following chapter, describing the position of the high priest “standing in their midst” (compare Mark 14:60). But this explana...

CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The Murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews (Acts 6:1)._ 2. Stephen; His Ministry and Arrest (Acts 6:8). Another failure is brought before us. The enemy acts again. From without and from within Satan pressed upon that which was of God. While the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit acted in Grace and power, the enemy came in to disturb. It is still so. Whenever there is a door opened there are also many adversaries (1 Corinthians 16:9). The flesh manifested itself in murmuring. The assembly took care of the poor; widows being specially helpless, were the objects of daily ministrations. The Jews themselves in connection with the synagogue had special funds for them. They must h