Jesus the short clean shaven unattractive son of God

[nine dog war]

Jesus is often described and pictured as a Tall, White, Beared Guy with Long Hair, Where does this description come from and why to people kepp perpetuation this "Myth". The biblical and historical evidence points Jesus being short, No beard, Clean cut and dark skinned.

WAS HE SHORT
The Gospel of Luke (19:3) “And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and he could not for the crowd, because he was low of stature.” Of course, Luke may be referring to Zaccheus rather than Jesus
Acts of John: “…I was afraid and cried out, and he, turning about, appeared as a man of small stature…” (v. 90)

WAS HE HANDSOME & WHITE
The Slavonic copy of Josephus’s Capture of Jerusalem, contains the following description of a man wanted by Pontius Pilate for claiming that he was the King of the Jews: “a man of simply appearance, mature age, dark skin, small stature, three cubits high, hunchbacked with a long face, long nose, and meeting eyebrows…with scanty hair with a parting in the middle of his head, after the manner of the Nazarites, and with an undeveloped beard (Quoted in Knight & Lomas, 1996, p. 230).” This description is curiously like that of Paul in the Acts of Paul and Thecla: “…a man small in size, bald-headed…with eyebrows meeting, rather hook-nosed…” (v. 3)

In the Acts of Peter, Peter quotes a prophet who described Jesus - “And we saw him and he had no beauty nor comeliness.

In the Acts of John, John says: “And oft-times he [Jesus] would appear to me as a small man and uncomely

Tertullian said: “he would not have been spat upon by the Roman soldiers if his face had not been so ugly as to inspire spitting.

BEARED WITH LONG HAIR
Almost all of the early artifacts concerning Jesus picture him as clean-shaven and with short hair. That should come as no surprise to anyone who has looked at coins, busts or statues of the early Roman emperors. Virtually every one of them had short hair and are clean shaven.

The first apperance painting of Jesus with long hair and a beard was not until the "Bapistry of the Orthodox" in Ravenna, Italy, c 500 A.D.


Have I interpreted the biblical evidence correctly?
Where did the Popular description of Jesus come from?
Is there evidence supporting the popular description of Jesus?

[achilles12604]

Jesus is often described and pictured as a Tall, White, Beared Guy with Long Hair, Where does this description come from and why to people kepp perpetuation this "Myth". The biblical and historical evidence points Jesus being short, No beard, Clean cut and dark skinned.

WAS HE SHORT
The Gospel of Luke (19:3) “And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and he could not for the crowd, because he was low of stature.” Of course, Luke may be referring to Zaccheus rather than Jesus
Acts of John: “…I was afraid and cried out, and he, turning about, appeared as a man of small stature…” (v. 90)

WAS HE HANDSOME & WHITE
The Slavonic copy of Josephus’s Capture of Jerusalem, contains the following description of a man wanted by Pontius Pilate for claiming that he was the King of the Jews: “a man of simply appearance, mature age, dark skin, small stature, three cubits high, hunchbacked with a long face, long nose, and meeting eyebrows…with scanty hair with a parting in the middle of his head, after the manner of the Nazarites, and with an undeveloped beard (Quoted in Knight & Lomas, 1996, p. 230).” This description is curiously like that of Paul in the Acts of Paul and Thecla: “…a man small in size, bald-headed…with eyebrows meeting, rather hook-nosed…” (v. 3)

In the Acts of Peter, Peter quotes a prophet who described Jesus - “And we saw him and he had no beauty nor comeliness.

In the Acts of John, John says: “And oft-times he [Jesus] would appear to me as a small man and uncomely

Tertullian said: “he would not have been spat upon by the Roman soldiers if his face had not been so ugly as to inspire spitting.

BEARED WITH LONG HAIR
Almost all of the early artifacts concerning Jesus picture him as clean-shaven and with short hair. That should come as no surprise to anyone who has looked at coins, busts or statues of the early Roman emperors. Virtually every one of them had short hair and are clean shaven.

The first apperance painting of Jesus with long hair and a beard was not until the "Bapistry of the Orthodox" in Ravenna, Italy, c 500 A.D.


Have I interpreted the biblical evidence correctly?
Where did the Popular description of Jesus come from?
Is there evidence supporting the popular description of Jesus?

I think your interpretation is right on in this case. When I envision Jesus, I actually picture some of the men I met while on military duty. Short, olive skin, shorter black hair, brown or black eyes, snarled beard.

I think the description came from the Catholic church, who while accumulating power during the 5th and 6th centuries re-created Jesus into someone familiar to them and the crowds in Italy, Germany, etc.

[katiej49]

[quote="nine dog war"]Jesus is often described and pictured as a Tall, White, Beared Guy with Long Hair,


by whom? i've never seen anyone describe Him like that. of course none of us knows what He looked like........and what could matter LESS than His physical appearance.......Its what He did for me and you that matters. our salvation! looks dont matter

[achilles12604]

Jesus is often described and pictured as a Tall, White, Beared Guy with Long Hair,


by whom? i've never seen anyone describe Him like that. of course none of us knows what He looked like........and what could matter LESS than His physical appearance.......Its what He did for me and you that matters. our salvation! looks dont matter

Most paintings and pictures of Jesus fit his description, so he has a point. Actually every time I see one of those pictures, I think of this very subject.

[katiej49]

Jesus is often described and pictured as a Tall, White, Beared Guy with Long Hair,


by whom? i've never seen anyone describe Him like that. of course none of us knows what He looked like........and what could matter LESS than His physical appearance.......Its what He did for me and you that matters. our salvation! looks dont matter

Most paintings and pictures of Jesus fit his description, so he has a point. Actually every time I see one of those pictures, I think of this very subject.

does it matter what He may have looked like? He could be short fat bald big nosed or tall handsome muscular.....it matters not....He is the Savior..THAT is what matters...blessings

[Easyrider]

Quiz for you: Maybe someone can point us to that one passage I know of that is known as Messianic and which describes his eyes?

[Cathar1950]

Quiz for you: Maybe someone can point us to that one passage I know of that is known as Messianic and which describes his eyes?

It is questionable if it is messianic as that has to do with intterpretation. As you know Christians think everything in the scriptures is about Jesus if it meets their needs. Shouldn't you be looking thru the eyes of Jesus or keeping your eyes on Jesus insead of playing opinion trivia?

I am guessing brown.
Maybe they are Like flaming swords? Or his that coming out of his mouth.
Hair like white wool, or Bronze legs? I guess if you going to use the bible and then equate God with Jesus you could almost have an Mr. Potato head Jesus.

[achilles12604]

Jesus is often described and pictured as a Tall, White, Beared Guy with Long Hair,


by whom? i've never seen anyone describe Him like that. of course none of us knows what He looked like........and what could matter LESS than His physical appearance.......Its what He did for me and you that matters. our salvation! looks dont matter

Most paintings and pictures of Jesus fit his description, so he has a point. Actually every time I see one of those pictures, I think of this very subject.

does it matter what He may have looked like? He could be short fat bald big nosed or tall handsome muscular.....it matters not....He is the Savior..THAT is what matters...blessings

You are also right.

Everyone is right, how bout that. Lets celebrate!

[margaret]

Doesn't Isaiah 50:6 speak of the Christ offering up his face for those who pluck out the beard. That's no big issue if he hasn't one! He was well dressed with seamless robe, but as no big deal is made of his looks in the gospels then I like to assume he was comfortable with the way he looked and projected this confidence to others. Perhaps that is part reason why people see him so many ways. He is so accepting.

[Negachrist]

If he's the All-American Poster Boy then he has to look the part...

I'm just surprised they didn't portray him as a natural blonde.

Oh wait...
http://198.62.75.1/www1/apparitions/http:/jesus.gif
http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/ ... man_sm.jpg
http://theunreliablenarrator.net/wp-con ... gibson.jpg
http://www.optimistique.com/pierre.et.g ... e/pg36.jpg