{Looking steadfastly} (atenisas). See on this word  1:10  3:12  6:15  7:55  13:9 . Paul may have had weak eyes, but
probably the earnest gaze was to see if he recognized any faces
that were in the body that tried Stephen and to which he
apparently once belonged. {I have lived before God}
(pepoliteumai t(9369) the(9369)). Perfect middle indicative of
politeu(935c), old verb to manage affairs of city (polis) or
state, to be a citizen, behave as a citizen. In the N.T. only
here and  Php 1:27 . The idea of citizenship was Greek and Roman,
not Jewish. "He had lived as God's citizen, as a member of God's
commonwealth" (Rackham). God (	he(9369)) is the dative of personal
interest. As God looked at it and in his relation to God. {In all
good conscience unto this day} (pas(8869) suneid(8873)ei agath(8869) achri
taut(8873) t(8873) h(886d)eras). This claim seems to lack tact, but for
brevity's sake Paul sums up a whole speech in it. He may have
said much more than Luke here reports along the line of his
speech the day before, but Paul did not make this claim without
consideration. It appears to contradict his confession as the
chief of sinners ( 1Ti 1:13-16 ). But that depends on one's
interpretation of "good conscience." The word suneid(8873)is is
literally "joint-knowledge" in Greek, Latin (_conscientia_) and
English "conscience" from the Latin. It is a late word from
sunoida, to know together, common in O.T., Apocrypha, Philo,
Plutarch, New Testament, Stoics, ecclesiastical writers. In
itself the word simply means consciousness of one's own thoughts
( Heb 10:2 ), or of one's own self, then consciousness of the
distinction between right and wrong ( Ro 2:15 ) with approval or
disapproval. But the conscience is not an infallible guide and
acts according to the light that it has ( 1Co 8:7,10  1Pe 2:19 ).
The conscience can be contaminated ( Heb 10:22 , evil pon(8872)(8373)).
All this and more must be borne in mind in trying to understand
Paul's description of his motives as a persecutor. Alleviation of
his guilt comes thereby, but not removal of guilt as he himself
felt ( 1Ti 1:13-16 ). He means to say to the Sanhedrin that he
persecuted Christians as a conscientious (though mistaken) Jew
(Pharisee) just as he followed his conscience in turning from
Judaism to Christianity. It is a pointed disclaimer against the
charge that he is a renegade Jew, an opposer of the law, the
people, the temple. Paul addresses the Sanhedrin as an equal and
has no "apologies" (in our sense) to make for his career as a
whole. The golden thread of consistency runs through, as a good
citizen in God's commonwealth. He had the consolation of a good
conscience ( 1Pe 3:16 ). The word does not occur in the Gospels
and chiefly in Paul's Epistles, but we see it at work in  Joh
8:9  (the interpolation  7:53-8:11 ).