Acts 6:15

ἀτενίσαντες, looking stedfastly, which was what they would naturally do when he was about to make his defence.

ὡσεὶ πρόσωπον�, as it had been the face of an angel. Either because of the 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 (Acts 7:56) beheld the open heavens and the glory of Christ enthroned on nigh, it may be that this verse speaks of what was supernatural, and that the face of Stephen was already illumined with the radiancy of the new Jerusalem. Chrysostom on this heavenly illumination says οὕτως ἔστι καὶ ἐν ἐλάττονι ὄντας βαθμῷ λάμπειν.

We have the same expression used about St Paul in Acta Pauli et Theclæ 2, ἀγγέλου πρόσωπον εἶχεν, and in the preceding line it is also said of him that he was χάριτος πλήρης, as Stephen is described in Acts 6:8 of this chapter.

For a similar phrase see note on Acts 7:20.