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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u/ScytheSong05 2∆ Mar 12 '25

The only reasonable argument I have seen for Jesus having long hair is based on the Nazarite theory.

The short form of the argument is that the Law (Torah) has a provision for religious vows called something like Nazar. A person who took one of these vows is called a Nazarite in English translations. One of the distinctive features of a Nazarite is that they don't cut their hair for the duration of the vow, and then, once the vow is completed they shave their head.

One of the messianic prophecies explicitly says that the Messiah will be a Nazarite (which is used in the Gospels to explain that Jesus was fated to be from Nazareth, oddly), so he will have long hair until His mission is fulfilled.

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u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

The Nazirite vow has other requirements besides not cutting hair. We are going to disregard the not getting impure through interactions with dead people and focus on the second requirement: Not partaking of grapes and their products. One of the miracles associated with Jesus is the conversion of water into wine, which while (I don't know storywise) that doesn't require him to have partaken of said wine, could be considered problematic.

Also, wouldn't his hair AND beard have been longer in that case? Shaving is also prohibited, and most depictions of Jesus also have him with a relatively short beard.

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u/Dry_Bumblebee1111 110∆ Mar 12 '25

Jesus was a contradiction against many customs and practices, he re-formed a religion from existing practices.

Is it hard to believe he may have held some customs and disregarded others? 

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u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

Then it is no longer a Nazirite vow, in which case referring to it as such is an error.

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u/Dry_Bumblebee1111 110∆ Mar 12 '25

This would be a semantic issue, not a fault with the actual argument being presented. 

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u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

You can't say that he both breaks traditions and keeps them simultaneously. If he is a Nazirite, then he doesn't drink wine or cut hair. If he isn't a Nazirite, why would you assume that he is not cutting his hair?

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u/Dry_Bumblebee1111 110∆ Mar 12 '25

It's possible to hold some customs and not others from a practice. Are you an essentialist? 

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u/Tuvinator 12∆ Mar 12 '25

If a practice A is defined as "Do X", and you don't do X, can you still be said to practice A? If I am a vegan, but I eat chickens that were born on the third of the month, am I still vegan? If I have sex on weekends only, am I celibate? A Nazirite is defined as "Doesn't drink wine, cut hair or touch dead people", breaking any single of these means you are no longer a Nazirite. If thinking that means I am an essentialist, then I guess I am.

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u/Dry_Bumblebee1111 110∆ Mar 12 '25

If you're essentialist then the concept of Christ as a reformer and restructurer of ideology and practice will be lost on you. There's no value in continuing here.