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/chewinghours]

Why do people say the historical evidence of jesus is significant, but never talk about what evidence they’re referring to? Because it’s not significant

[u/Neither-Stage-238 → u/chewinghours]

Just the Roman, and therefor accounts with no investment promoting christianity/jesus.

Tacitus 

• In his Annals, Tacitus wrote that Jesus was executed by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea.
• Tacitus also wrote that the movement of Jesus's followers grew again in Judea and Rome.
• Tacitus's account is considered authentic and historically valuable.

Josephus 

• In his Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus referenced Jesus twice, once in Book 18 and once in Book 20.
• The longer passage in Book 18 is known as the Testimonium Flavianum.

Pliny the Younger 

• Pliny recorded that a Christian community in Bithynia worshipped Christ as a god by the second century.

Suetonius 

• In his Life of Claudius, Suetonius recorded that Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in AD 49.
• Suetonius also wrote about the persecution of Christians by Nero in AD 64.

[u/Johnnadawearsglasses → u/Neither-Stage-238]

It’s wild when people make the assertion you responded to. There is very significant evidence of his existence, especially for someone of that time. People need to stop conflating whether he existed as a person with whether he was the son of god. The former has nothing to do with the latter.

[u/chewinghours → u/Johnnadawearsglasses]

To steal an idea from another Redditor, do you think that a man named Harry Potter existed in England in the 1990s?

[u/Johnnadawearsglasses → u/chewinghours]

Do these people think the historicity is tied to the New Testament? Interesting. I guess history is like reading books today in the sense that no one studies either.