Any thought on the hair length of Jesus as he is currently portrayed, in light of historical norms?
In far too many films and works of art, Jesus is portrayed as a fair-skinned Anglo-Saxon, often with nicely coifed hair. As rough a life as he lived—construction work (stone and wood), walking everywhere, often without a place to lay his head—it seems unlikely to me that he would have had hair or clothes perfectly clean and in order.
Scholars know from surviving artistic and literary portrayals that Jewish men of the first century wore their hair at medium length. They did not shave their beards (like the Romans).
As no details about Jesus's appearance have survived, it seems most likely that he was average—that he blended in. I doubt the Lord colored his hair blue, was very much taller/shorter than other 1st-century Jewish males, or wore his hair down to this waist like Absalom! Rather, he was 168cm (5' 6") or less and dark-skinned. (Jesus was Asian—what we today call the Middle East lies in Southwest Asia.)
So much for the golden-haired, blue-eyed Jesus!
