Troublesome TopicDid Jesus Have Long Hair? 1 Cor 11

1 Corinthians 11:14

Translation

Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man lets his hair grow long, it is a disgrace to him,

Paraphrase

Isn’t the general and instinctive understanding of your culture that if a man who grows his hair long it is a disgrace to him,

DID JESUS HAVE LONG HAIR?

I think He did not have long hair. There is no evidence that Jesus was under the restrictions of a life-long Nazarite vow like Samson had been. We deduce this because it appears that he did not refrain from drinking wine, as was the custom in His culture, and He touched dead people (in order to make them alive again), which was strictly forbidden for those in a Nazarite vow.

As noted above, if a man grew his hair long, it was sign of rebellion against authority. This would be uncharacteristic of Jesus.

Where did the idea of a long-haired Jesus come from? According to the internet, it probably arose from people wanting to depict Jesus in the same way that they depicted Greek and Roman gods, especially Zeus, with long hair.

 It is most likely that Jesus trimmed His hair like most other men of His culture at that time.

The next lesson is: Was the Hair the Same as a Veil? 1 Cor 11