Did Jesus have long hair?

Jesus did not have long hair for His culture. He looked like a man.

I don't think he wore a crew-cut or a BJU haircut either.

 

Didn't we already have a discussion thread on this?

We simply do not know what Jesus looked like. Not a clue, with the exception of scripture telling us that he wasn't dashingly handsome.

As far as hair, the common custom of Jewish men was to have long hair and a beard. By "long", I mean roughly shoulder length or a bit shorter. That's long by our standards, but was not by their standards. "Long" back then would have been hair that was considerably past the shoulder. But shorter-cut hair among Jewish men was also a common practice.

So it all goes back to square one: We simply do not know what length Jesus' hair was.

 

Even more to the point, most of our pictures though are not drawn by theologians.

One year at BSSB, we got a set of pictures for a unit on the patriarchs and everyone's clothes were made out of the same patterned (and colored) fabric. The first thing I thought was, "They must have had a sale at Cloth World." Not a biblical issue, but historically, I don't think that Jacob and Rachel had been shopping in the same store right before they met.

OK, so forget theologians -- our pictures may come from people who haven't even thought about what they are depicting.

 

There is adequate archeological data for this. "Long hair" then was not the same as "long hair" today.

 

The Bible is always accurate.

That does not change the fact that long hair varies from culture to culture and age to age.

 

Scriptural interpretation should always take into consideration the intent of the author, the POV of the audience, the setting, and the society. Lacking any or all of these things, there is always a potential for misinterpretation.

 

It makes absolutely no difference to me whether Jesus had long hair, short hair or was bald.

 

so on the mount of transfiguration...

Jesus talked with Moses, Elijah, and Bob Jones cut his hair.

sheesh. My view of Christ isn't shaken just because he doesn't match up with my "hair theology." I'd rather look at Jesus right and reform my view on hair than look on hair a certain way and have to reform my view of Jesus...

 

We have an abundance of sculptures from the Helenistic world that Jesus lived in to show us precisely how men in that day wore their hair and what Paul meant by "long hair." In my most humble opinion I do not believe that Jesus chose to deliberately sin against his Father by refusing to go the barbershop when it was time for him to do so. Jesus did NOT have long hair unless he was a rebellious sinner. If you are a man and have long hair, repent and get it cut.

 

What length is too long?

 

Hellenistic hair length was considered long by 1950's standards.

Gib, I think we need to look at the "intent" of the verse, not just the surface of it. I believe what is being referred to is gender identity. If you're wearing your hair in a manner which purposefully confuses your gender appearance, then it is a shame, and you should change your style accordingly. That being said, there are some men with long hair that could never be confused with a woman, and some women with short hair that could never ben confused with a man. In these cases, I believe their individual hairstles are probably permissible.

But we need to be careful not to judge a person or his/her heart just by what's on top of their heads. Judging a book by the cover is a sure way down the path of unrighteousness.

 

I once read a guy's theory that if hair was so long that you could not see the natural shape of the skull it was too long. It also said that is you could see the shape of a woman's head her hair was too short.


Interesting huh?

 

I think his hair was to His shoulders and He had a big beard.

We have an abundance of sculptures from the Helenistic world that Jesus lived in to show us precisely how men in that day wore their hair and what Paul meant by "long hair." In my most humble opinion I do not believe that Jesus chose to deliberately sin against his Father by refusing to go the barbershop when it was time for him to do so. Jesus did NOT have long hair unless he was a rebellious sinner. If you are a man and have long hair, repent and get it cut.

Then I guess by your logic women should never cut there hair? The verse you are referring to has more to say about women then men.

The bottom line is God told certain groups not to cut thier hair for 7 years. One prophet never cut his hair because his mother made a promise and God honored this request.

1 Samuel 1:11 (NASB)
11 She made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head."

Should he cut his hair and repented?

Let's not add to the word guys and gals!

I grow my hair for about 2 to 4 years. I cut my hair and give it to Locks of Love. Am I a rebellious Sinner for doing this?

 

But then again a woman can look like a man and nothing said BUT if a man has longer hair he should repent!

What a sad shape the Church of the Living God is in today when hair makes one add to the Scripture(s) and judge. At least those who hold to the belief could apply it fairly to women as well.

 

I saw an interesting program on the Discovery Channel yesterday about this very subject. They took a 1st Century A.D. Jewish human male skull and had a facial reconstruction then added it to the computer and then took a painting painted in the 3rd Century A.D. of the temple in Syria of Jewish worshipers and added the hair and beard of Jesus. Johnv has been the most correct so far. His hair hung down to onto His neck but it wasn't shoulder length. Most hyper-fundies would consider it long today. But it wasn't even down to his shoulders. (According to this program of course.)

 

My hair is just about touching my shoulders. It's wavy and has nice highlights in it. I shampoo it everyday for shine.

Some at church accuse me of being a Jesus freak because I have "long hair". I just smile and wave my hands in my lovely locks.