Jesus Christ

 

 

7. Did Jesus wear long hair?

 

 

No, He didn’t. How could Jesus have worn long hair, when Paul says: “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?” (1 Corinthians 11:14)?

Those who think that Jesus had long hair make a mistake which is this: they believe that Jesus Christ was a Nazirite (a Jew who took the vow of a Nazirite), and according to the law, during the entire period of his vow of separation no razor could be used on his head, as it is written: “All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow” (Numbers 6:5). However, Jesus was not a Nazirite, because according to the law the Nazirite had to abstain from anything made from grapes, as it is written: “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazirite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk” (Numbers 6:2-4), while Jesus drank some vinegar, as it is written: “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:28-30).

In addition to this, a Nazirite was not allowed to touch a dead body, as it is written: “All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head” (Numbers 6:6-7), while Jesus touched a dead body, as it is written: “And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his house: For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him. ….. And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden. And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat” (Luke 8:41-42, 51-55).

Therefore, when the Scripture calls Jesus a Nazarene, it does not mean that He was a Nazirite, but it means that He was an inhabitant of Nazareth, the town where He was brought up by his parents. Matthew makes it clear that this was the reason why Jesus was called a Nazarene when he says: “But when he [Joseph, the putative father of Jesus] heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene” (Matthew 2:22-23)

 

 

 

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