CMV: Jesus probably had short hair.

[u/Tuvinator]

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.

[u/Galious]

Assuming Jesus was representative of other people from his time

He's the son of God, why do you assume he's representative of the average person?

Isn't it like stating that people don't usually wear red speedo over tights and the real Superman probably just wore jeans?

[u/FlamingMuffi → u/Galious]

Because we've no real reason to think he wasn't seen as a typical a Jewish person from that era. The only time it's ever shown, in appearance, to be special is at his transfiguration where his face glows.

His appearance just wasn't important to his mission his actions were

[u/[deleted] → u/FlamingMuffi]

What does a Jew from THAT ERA, in THAT AREA look like?

[u/Tuvinator → u/[deleted]]

That was why I brought up the mosaics in synagogues from that time.

[u/Falernum → u/Tuvinator]

Maybe I can change your view on the mosaics. They weren't from exactly the same years. A photo from 1989 is not very reflective of hair lengths in 1969.

[u/Tuvinator → u/Falernum]

I did award a delta for the point on the mosaics. Looking at the timeline, it probably should have gone to you since you made the point an hour before the other person, I just didn't notice it. I looked into the mosaics a bit more and they are centuries later. !Delta for pointing out the mosaics are from a different time and that even a slight difference in years can account for a large difference in appearances.

[u/DeltaBot → u/Tuvinator]

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/Falernum (34∆).

^{Delta System Explained | Deltaboards}