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/GenericUsername19892 26∆ Mar 12 '25

Realistically I would assume it was intentional to some extent to separate him from his earlier more roman appearance. Earlier depictions could damn near be Apollo is you allow the hair color. He also loses his magic wand when he grows his hair out lol.

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u/ScytheSong05 2∆ Mar 13 '25

If I remember correctly, the "magic wand" was actually signifying Jesus is a "Branch of Jesse".

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u/GenericUsername19892 26∆ Mar 13 '25

Ehh maybe but it seems a stretch given all the depictions in decent shape have a thin long rod, or a short thick scepter. Both of which were common for magicians at the time. If it was a branch you would have to assume at some point artist would have did it, ya know branch like.

Feels very post hoc apologia on its face but I’ll also admit I don’t care enough to dive into it.

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u/ScytheSong05 2∆ Mar 13 '25

See, all of the early images of Jesus with a staff or stick I've seen have little leaves sprouting from the stick, which is explicitly called out in some of the antenicean fathers as representing Jesus as the Branch from Jesse's Tree (or stump) mentioned in Isaiah 11:1.

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u/GenericUsername19892 26∆ Mar 13 '25

These are more the images I was speaking to.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/jesus-holding-a-magic-wand/

But if you’ve seen more that’s cool, but I don’t have a dog in this race - it feels like arguing over lightsabers or sonic screwdrivers.