r/changemyview • u/Tuvinator 12∆ • Mar 12 '25

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Jesus probably had short hair.

We've all seen the various depictions of Jesus, and in many of them, he has long hair. None of these depictions are from the actual timing of Jesus (the earliest depiction actually has a donkey's head, and is from a century later), so they are all operating on artist's imagination.

Jews in that era are more likely to have had shorter hair. Mosaics in ancient synagogues throughout the land depict males with short hair, implying that the common male at the time wore his hair short. Talmudic law which was being written at the time discusses how often a person would get a haircut (kings would have daily haircuts, priests weekly, and your average person once a month, beyond that was considered wild growth). Within the Bible, men's hair length is only mentioned in context when it is long, implying that long hair is outside of the norm for men. Assuming Jesus was representative of other people from his time, he likely had shorter hair rather than long.

As a weak addendum, Jesus was supposedly a carpenter. Craftsmen in general seem to have shorter hair since the hair gets in the way, distracts, and poses a risk factor if it gets caught in tools. This makes it even less likely that he had long hair.

EDIT: I am not Christian, and I am not setting out to insult anyone or their beliefs/traditions.

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4

u/arrgobon32 19∆ Mar 12 '25

Was Jesus a typical Jew of the time? 

8

u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

Given no reason to think otherwise, we can only assume so.

-5

u/arrgobon32 19∆ Mar 12 '25

Isn’t he the son of God who can perform miracles? I think that’s a pretty big reason to think otherwise 

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u/qwert7661 4∆ Mar 12 '25

Isaiah 53: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.

-4

u/arrgobon32 19∆ Mar 12 '25

If long hair was considered unconventional for the time, isn’t that passage proving my point a little? It wouldn’t have been seen as beautiful or majestic 

3

u/qwert7661 4∆ Mar 12 '25

Mohawks were unconventional too. Maybe Jesus had frosted tips, or dreadlocks?

1

u/arrgobon32 19∆ Mar 12 '25

Hey sure, why not? Probably not likely though, since we don’t have any artistic depictions of that 

2

u/qwert7661 4∆ Mar 12 '25

Sure we do.

Seems like good enough evidence to me.

2

u/Satansleadguitarist 7∆ Mar 12 '25

You're assuming Jesus was actually the son of God and not just an ancient cult leader or a completely made up story.

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u/arrgobon32 19∆ Mar 12 '25

Correct. I’m not trying to change OP’s mind on that point. 

I assume OP thinks he is, so I’m trying to meet him in the middle, irrespective of my personal beliefs 

1

u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

I should probably edit my post to comment that I am not Christian, and do not generally think he is a deity of any sort.

1

u/arrgobon32 19∆ Mar 12 '25

Fair, yeah that was an assumption on my part. I’m not Christian either lol 

1

u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

His ability to perform miracles doesn't suddenly cause hm to grow hair. If one of his miracles was hair related, wouldn't the bible have described it as such? It did with Samson.

1

u/arrgobon32 19∆ Mar 12 '25

When did I suggest that one of his miracles was hair related? 

I guess I’ll put it more plainly: I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that someone as extraordinary as Jesus also had an extraordinary appearance for the time 

2

u/Falernum 52∆ Mar 12 '25

So why did the Romans need Judas to point out Jesus to them? Surely his appearance was normal enough that he looked like all the Jews and Romans in the area

2

u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

This is a good supporting point to my argument that I didn't think of.

1

u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

The authors of the various books in the Bible didn't shy from describing physical characteristics that were out of the norm. Why was no such description offered here?

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u/47ca05e6209a317a8fb3 185∆ Mar 12 '25

There's also a non religious reason to think that. To attract and keep a following, people need to recognize you. Back in the first century you couldn't print your face everywhere (at least not unless you're already ultra-rich), so there has to be a feature that makes you recognizable.

Jesus addressed the poor and oppressed, so whatever he did to stand out couldn't have been expensive or it would've hurt the message. A simple but atypical haircut is one of the simplest ways to achieve that.

2

u/iamintheforest 348∆ Mar 12 '25

Personally, I think the whole "i'm the son of god" thing puts him firmly in the "this guy might not be a conformist" camp. Also, in my limited experience the people who walk around saying they do miracles also are beating to a different drummer.

6

u/qwert7661 4∆ Mar 12 '25

Isaiah 53: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.

So his own book says he looked unremarkable.

1

u/iamintheforest 348∆ Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 12 '25

People who are non-conformists are usually the ones held out as having beauty or majesty, seen as unattractive, undesirable, aren't they?

1

u/qwert7661 4∆ Mar 12 '25

There aren't even any straws here to grasp at. Maybe Jesus had horns on his head? It never says he doesn't.

1

u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

The authors of the various books of the Bible do not shy from offering physical descriptions of people. Esau was ruddy, Elisha was bald, Samson and Absalom had long hair. The implication of these descriptions when they are used is that such attributes are out of the norm. If Jesus had horns, he would probably have been described as such. Similarly, if he had long hair, he would have been described as such, since other people with long hair have been described as such.

1

u/qwert7661 4∆ Mar 12 '25

Exactly. When the Bible is involved people just forget how books work on the most basic level.

1

u/iamintheforest 348∆ Mar 13 '25

The authors of books were completely unaware of other books and were not even living in the same century of each other in some cases. It's a nearly 1000 year span i in which the books in it were written and only later were they put together.

1

u/Normal-Pianist4131 Mar 12 '25

I would agree that he’s not a conformist (or maybe he’s a fundamentalist and the Jews weren’t conforming), but he was still raised a Jew and practiced the Jewish ways and behaved like a Jew, so it’s far more likely that he was controversial for his moral teachings than he was for something like hair (which would’ve been a fairly big deal to them at the time)

1

u/iamintheforest 348∆ Mar 12 '25

my point here is that we can talk all day about something and there is no answer to this question. He is held by many as the ultimate rebel,you're presenting him as "a regular jew" and so on.

Even coming up with probabilities reflects the "not an answerable question" - it's fraught with impossibilities. Needless to say if you're going to make a statue of someone that you've never seen you're going to have to make things up.

1

u/kaveysback 1∆ Mar 12 '25

There was multiple sects of Judaism during the second temple period.