Do we know what Jesus actually looks like?

[Kei]

I guess it depends on how you define carpenter.
Tekton to the best of my knowledge means an artisan or craftsman, in particular wood builders or carpenters.

Not that I’m some expert in koine Greek or anything like that.

 

[BartholomewB]

I guess it depends on how you define carpenter.

This is how I define carpenter:

Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words

The world's leading online dictionary: English definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more. A trusted authority for 25+ years!

www.lexico.com

 

[Teek]

I once asked a Greek friend about tekton. He has a good knowledge of classical Greek and he told me he is unaware of the word tekton ever having been used to designate any trade other than a carpenter.

Sure, when you go Greek deep. But when you go Hebrew deep, it gets really fun! Especially when you look at all of the ways that the same Hebrew word that translates to “Tekton” in Greek is used in the Old Testament.

Here is one place to start, for anyone interested…

Strong's #2796 - חָרָשׁ - Old Testament Hebrew Lexical Dictionary - StudyLight.org

Strong's #2796 - חָרָשׁ in the Old Testament Hebrew Lexical Dictionary on StudyLight.org

www.studylight.org

 

[Edward_H]

There have been 3D models built from the Shroud. He had a strong frame and arms, indicating he worked hard for a living before starting his public ministry.

In Notre Dame (Vatican property) in Jerusalem, you can see this life sized 3D image.

 

[patrick457]

The idea that Jesus was a woodworker is old - there was already a popular belief among early Christians that Jesus was a guy who made plows and yokes.

There was a symbolic reason for this: since Jesus died on a wooden cross, apparently the early Christians thought that it was fitting that He should be making wooden yokes (the yoke evoking the patibulum, the crossbeam).

I think Father said this earlier, but while the idea of Jesus making yokes and other mundane implements is still plausible, the type of carpentry we see in some religious art - where Jesus and Joseph make large tables or cabinets or stuff like that - is a bit unlikely, because high-quality wood was rare and were usually imported. In other words, there’s a very slim chance that imported decent lumber (the cedars of Lebanon, etc.) will end up in a small backwater rural village like Nazareth.

At that part of the world, you’d get more jobs and money working with stone - which were in abundance (seriously, they are even standing on it) compared to wood. With stone, you could build houses or even make bowls or cups or jars. (Most Jews took the purity laws of the Old Testament seriously; unlike pottery or wooden utensils, bowls or cups made of stone are thought to be immune to ritual impurity, which is which they were in high demand, especially for the more pious folks.)

The thing is, it’s not like Joseph or Jesus would have worked only with wood or only with stone; maybe it was both. Many artisans in those days were not just people who specialized in one single particular thing to the exclusion of others, nor were many farmers just farmers and nothing else. Actually, it would seem that many people were not stuck to one single kind of job: a lot of working peasants would have had a side job or trade of sorts. Who knows, maybe Joseph and Jesus built houses or made stone cups; maybe they made yokes or plows, maybe they were also repairmen who fixed boats or some small furniture or some leaky roof.

 

[TheAmazingGrace]

Where do you get the short hair? Again, the man on the Shroud has long hair.

His hair only reaches his jawline on the shroud, and it was probably weighed down with sweat and blood.

 

[BartholomewB]

The idea that Jesus was a woodworker is old - there was already a popular belief among early Christians that Jesus was a guy who made plows and yokes.

Patrick.—Yet another theory about what kind of work Jesus did, and where he did it:

Jesus of Sepphoris Sacred Scripture

Sepphoris was the capital of Galilee for at least fifty years, from 37 BC (if not earlier) until about AD 18, when Herod Antipas moved his capital to the newly built city of Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Nazareth is within walking distance of Sepphoris, less than four miles. Nazareth is unknown in the Old Testament and in all other ancient sources earlier than the New Testament. Even Josephus, who writes a lot about Galilee, never mentions it. In the New Testament, it occurs onl…

 

[Eliza10]

Okay, I cannot read 190 replies to see if you have seen this, and hopefully you have already. If not, you will want to see it:

Physical Description of Jesus

 

[adamhovey1988]

I not only don’t know, I don’t care. Sometimes you see Jesus portrayed as mixed-race, same as his mother, sometimes you see him as being Southern European, sometimes you see him as being Eastern Asian, sometimes you see him as other things in art. Honestly, I think the message is much more important.

 

[adamhovey1988]

I’ve read the entire Bible, Genesis to Revelation, there’s never a physical description of Jesus.

 

[Teek]

I couldn’t remember any either, except the prophetic ones in Isaiah, and I never understood those to be literal descriptions of what he looked like.

 

[FrDavid96]

I not only don’t know, I don’t care. Sometimes you see Jesus portrayed as mixed-race, same as his mother, sometimes you see him as being Southern European, sometimes you see him as being Eastern Asian, sometimes you see him as other things in art. Honestly, I think the message is much more important.

That’s true, but to a limited extent.

Salvation history is important. It’s not irrelevant (as some want to claim).

Christ existed as a real human person.

Salvation history goes through Abraham, Moses, the times of the prophets and kings, etc. etc.

Christ was Incarnate as a member of the Jewish race. He was (in his human nature) truly a descendant of Abraham. We cannot either forget or deny it. We cannot ignore it either.

If we ignore the fact that he lived in a given (and very specific) time and place and had a certain genealogy/ancestry (even if we don’t know every detail of every generation) then He becomes a mythical figure; and that is unacceptable in our Christian faith.

Every Advent, the Church reminds us of this. We read the genealogy of Luke and/or Matthew for a reason. Granted, they don’t agree and they’re probably not strictly accurate in the historic sense; but the message behind them is essential.

In art, every culture presents Christ according to its own ideals of a 33 year old man. In art, that’s fine.

But we cannot (absolutely cannot) forget that in theology and salvation history, the Incarnate Christ was a true man. He only appeared one way, even though we have no record of precisely how He looked.

 

[FrDavid96]

I’ve read the entire Bible, Genesis to Revelation, there’s never a physical description of Jesus.

True. But the description of His family heritage (in broad terms) is certainly given and is essential to Salvation History. It cannot be denied.

 

[Teek]

Really awesome. I love it. I’ll have to check out the sources later. Thank you!

 

[Eliza10]

One reporter says hair the color of chestnut , the other golden - but, especially if mostly straight at the top, as described, it would look catch the sun and look quite quite light in the bright midday sun, especially with predominately black haired folks around Him. Jesus and Mary’s ancestor King David was “ruddy” - traditionally interpreted as red-haired. [And another ancestral relation, Esau - brother direct relation Jacob -
Esau means “red”.]. And one witness describes Jesus’ eyes as gray, the other blue - and blue eyes often take both casts. The typical Jewish person we think of has black or very dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, so its understandable to assume that Jesus was like most Jews we think of, but in reality, not all Jewish people have the same coloring. They have variety! And as one witness of Jesus wrote, his less-common Jewish coloring helped him stand out in the crowd - which was a certainly a Grace for the many who were seeking Him in crowds.


I have not read the replies, but I know many will have said, “I don’t care what he looks like”. To me that’s a sort of defensive reply, as in, “I don’t want to spoil it by imagining wrong, so, I’d rather not know.” [editing to add: I mean, they do not want to risk believing an untruth, which is understandable]. And of course, it is not what matters ultimately about any person. But besides being souls we are material beings in a world both physical and spiritual, and Jesus came as a physical being and he did have a particular unique look, as all persons do. I am an artist and I have really wondered. So when I found that above-linked website, it rang true to me. Not only that, it matches the physical description of Jesus and Mary by mystic Maria Valtorta, who wrote of the life of Christ as Jesus mystically showed her, and she described everything she saw, including the physicality of Jesus and Mary, and the disciples, Gamaliel - everyone, as well as showing us, through their interactions and conversations, their vibrant and unique personalities.

Maria Valtorta is a visionary I trust, as do many priests, bishops, cardinals, theologians and cloistered monks and nuns. Finding the above link was a great blessing to me, but it was second to the blessing of stumbling on Valtorta’s Poem of the Man-God. Its thousands of pages have blessed me greatly. Here is my favorite story of many, many favorite and beloved parts of the work, The Adoration of the Shepherds.

It is private revelations so no one is obliged to accept it as inspired by God. I believe it is the gospel fleshed out, and great learned Catholic theologians have studied it extensively and found it completely consistent with Holy Scripture. And as well, non-religious astronomers, historians, and anthropologists also find it miraculously and completely correct. (see this Catholic Monk’s website for amazing detailed articles by learned supporters of Valtorta’s works).

 

[Eliza10]

For those who prefer quick skims, here is an “approval list” from the above, just-mentioned monk’s site on the works of Valtorta:
http://www.bardstown.com/~brchrys/Valtorta-Approval-List.bmp

 

[patrick457]

Re. Publius Lentulus:

(1) There is no such post as a ‘Governor’ or ‘President of Judaea’. There were prefects, and after AD 44, procurators. While the Gospels do use the word hēgemon (‘leader’, traditionally rendered as ‘governor’ in our Bibles) to refer to Pilate, this is an unofficial term.

(2) There was no prefect or procurator under the name of ‘Publius Lentulus’; some versions of the text present Lentulus as Pilate’s predecessor, but from records (Josephus for example) we see that his predecessor is actually named Valerius Gratus. Also, since Pilate was the prefect of Judaea for a ten-year period (the common reckoning is around AD 26-36), Lentulus would have seen Jesus and have become aware of His power and divinity BEFORE He even embarked in His public ministry and acquired a following.

(3) Lentulus addresses the Senate in his letter. In reality, officials abroad would have written directly to the Emperor.

(4) A pagan Roman writer from the early 1st century would not have employed the expressions, “prophet of truth”, “sons of men”, or “Jesus Christ”. The former two are Hebrew idioms, the third - a uniquely Christian expression - is taken from the New Testament. This pretty much gives away the real author as a later Christian.

(5) We have no record of this letter, the different manuscripts of which vary from each other (the version presented here is actually just one of these), in antiquity. In fact, all the ancient writers seem to be unaware of the existence of this letter. The earliest time we can trace this letter is apparently, the late 15th century: among the purported descriptions of what Jesus looked like (there were quite a number of them that appeared ever since the Iconoclast controversy), this is pretty late.

According to the Old Catholic Encyclopedia:

Different manuscripts vary from the foregoing text in several details: Dobschutz (“Christusbilder”, Leipzig, 1899) enumerates the manuscripts and gives an “apparatus criticus” . The letter was first printed in the “Life of Christ” by Ludolph the Carthusian (Cologne, 1474), and in the “Introduction to the works of St. Anselm” (Nuremberg, 1491). But it is neither the work of St. Anselm nor of Ludolph. According to the manuscript of Jena, a certain Giacomo Colonna found the letter in 1421 in an ancient Roman document sent to Rome from Constantinople. It must be of Greek origin, and translated into Latin during the thirteenth or fourteenth century, though it received its present form at the hands of humanist of the fifteenth or sixteenth century. The description agrees with the so-called Abgar picture of our Lord; it also agrees with the portrait of Jesus Christ drawn by Nicephorus, St. John Damascene, and the Book of Painters (of Mt. Athos). Munter (“Die Sinnbilder und Kunstvorstellungen der alten Christen”, Altona 1825, p. 9) believes he can trace the letter down to the time of Diocletian; but this is not generally admitted.

 

[patrick457]

The thing is, the Publius Lentulus letter is actually one of the latest in a long line of purported ‘descriptions’ of what Jesus or Mary looked like in life that was the vogue ever since the Iconoclast Controversy. These descriptions are in reality actually based on icons that are purported to be real-life portraits/icons of Jesus and Mary. Here are some of them:

As, then, they brought Jesus before [Pilate], he looked at him for a long time, marveling at his beauty and youth. This is his appearance: he is wheat-coloured, his hair is black, coming down to the shoulders like bunches of grapes, his nose is prominent, he has beautiful eyes, his eyebrows are joined together, his cheek are red like roses. He wears a grape-coloured tunic, he has two silver-studded adornments on his side, like a sword, and a linen garment covers him so that he looks like a royal son. Thus they brought him to Pilate, the governor.

Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Life and the Passion of Christ (7th-8th century), 114

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Of the evangelist and apostle Luke all his contemporaries said that with his own hands he painted both Christ the Incarnated himself and his purest Mother, and their images are preserved in Rome, so it is said, with great honour; and in Jerusalem they are exhibited with meticulous attention. Josephus the Jew, too, says (sic) that this was what the Lord looked like when he was seen by the people: with eyebrows that met, fine eyes, a large and prominent face, and great stature, as he was clearly seen when he spoke to the people; and the same can be said as to the reproduction of the Mother of God, which we see also today and somebody calls “the Roman.”

• Andrew of Crete, On the Veneration of the Holy Images (ca. 700)

He was extremely handsome, six feet tall with blondish hair, not too thick, and lightly waved; the eyebrows black and not very arched, the eyes clear and brilliant; he had beautiful eyes, a long nose, and long, blondish beard, since a razor had never touched his face, nor even any man except for his mother’s when he was an infant. The neck slightly bent, just enough to avoid being rigidly upright, his colour that of wheat; his face was not round, but, like that of his mother, drawn toward the chin, the cheeks lightly coloured, just sufficiently to reveal his pious nature, sage, calm and maintaining always a serene humour without anger.

• Epiphanius the Monk (ca. 800)

 

[patrick457]

He was beautiful in body, his height seven complete spans, his hair was yellowish, not thick, and at the ends somewhat curled. His eyebrows were black, only a little arched, and without break; his eyes were hazel, of that description called bright-eyed, not dim, in no way misinformed, nor wandering. His nose was prominent, his beard reddish, not profuse, but the hair of the head was abundant, for never had razor or hand of man shorn it. His neck was somewhat bent, so that He did not walk perfectly upright; the colour of his face was a yellow brown, like ripe wheat: his face was not round, nor pointed, but, like his mother’s, a little drooping and slightly blushing. His very countenance indicated a man of intelligence, with manners grave, calm, and removed from anger. In all things was He like His most pure mother.

Nicephorus Callistus Xantopulus (ca. 1330s)

Compare all of the above to the Lentulus letter:

He is a man of medium size; he has a venerable aspect, and his beholders can both fear and love him. His hair is of the colour of the ripe hazel-nut, straight down to the ears, but below the ears wavy and curled, with a bluish and bright reflection, flowing over his shoulders. It is parted in two on the top of the head, after the pattern of the Nazarenes. His brow is smooth and vary cheerful with a face without wrinkle or spot, embellished by a slightly reddish complexion. His nose and mouth are faultless. His beard is abundant, of the colour of his hair, not long, but divided at the chin. His aspect is simple and mature, his eyes are changeable and bright (…)

On the other hand, you also have these other earlier descriptions of the frizzy short-haired Jesus (also based on a purported icon of Jesus made from life):

At the time of Gennadius was withered the hand of a painter who dared to pain the Saviour in the likeness of Zeus. Gennadius healed him by means of a prayer. The author [Theodorus Lector] says that the other form of Christ, viz. the one with short, frizzy hair, is the more authentic.

• Theodorus Lector, Historia Ecclesiastica 1.15 (ca 540s), from Theophanes the Confessor (ca. 810-15)

Theodore the historian of Constantinople, from his History of the Church, about Gennadius, archbishop of Constantinople:

I shall set down other things about him full of amazement. A certain painter, while painting an icon of Christ our Master, found that his hand shriveled up. And it was said that, as the work of the icon had been ordered by a certain pagan, in the adornment of the name of the Savior he had depicted his hair divided on his forehead, so that his eyes were not covered—for in such a way the children of the pagans depict Zeus—so that those who saw it would think that they were assigning veneration to the Savior.

• Theodorus Lector as quoted by St. John of Damascus, Three Treatises on the Divine Images (720s-30s), Treatise 3, 130

 

[elohimrules]

I know he was Jewish so he has darker skin and hair. Most likely brown eyes. The bible also says they plucked his beard but other than that we have no idea. One can only imagine.