Was Jesus white?

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All of the picture I have or have seen of Jesus he is white or of fair skin. But aren’t a lot of people in that part of the world brown-skinned? Or am I wrong? Is it possible Jesus was brown? Just curious. It’s something a friend pointed out to me last year and has haunted me ever since. What do you guys think?
 
Well I think he was white. But it doesn’t mean that black people are lower race than white people. It would be weird if he was black and lived in Rome, because in Rome people were white. There is no need for him to have weird body. He was God in body normal for place he was living in. I hope I answered your question.
 
Well I think he was white. But it doesn’t mean that black people are lower race than white people. It would be weird if he was black and lived in Rome, because in Rome people were white. There is no need for him to have weird body. He was God in body normal for place he was living in. I hope I answered your question.
I don’t know what you mean by weird body, but I was thinking of Jesus perhaps looking more muslim, maybe. I don’t know. More brownish, not necessarily dark, but then again, Africa is just across the sea, so, maybe. Although, I didn’t realize Jesus was in Rome. Jesus was in Rome? When was Jesus in Rome?
 
Jesus would not have been ‘White’. He was bom in the Middle-east, of middle-eastern parents, so he clearly would have been of the ethnic origin of the people there. He wouldn’t have been some white guy with light brown hair, who suddenly popped up in the 1st century middle-east, where the indigenous people were brown-skinned with dark brown hair.

Jesus would have looked just like one of the locals (which he was). Isaiah 53 explains that the Messiah would not be someone that would be in any way special in appearance, “he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” Jesus would have looked just like any other Galilean. He would certainly not have been white.
 
Jesus would not have been ‘White’. He was bom in the Middle-east, of middle-eastern parents, …where the indigenous people were brown-skinned with dark brown hair…Jesus would have looked just like one of the locals (which he was).
Um, he was not brown-skinner or black-skinned. Since he was Semitic, he is best described as yellow/olive in skin tone – not fair-Northern-European (pink/beige), but supposedly not the opposite either. Visionary literature includes hair tones ranging from light (sandy) brown to dark brown, but the former could be the effect of the His standing within strong reflected light during those visions. Similarly, eye color from visionary literature varies. Faustina has Him with dark brown eyes. Several others who have experienced visions have encountered blue-green eyes.

There is no unanimity among scholars as to what he looks like, beyond the likelihood that his skin tone itself was not like that of a Northern European. (And also, he clearly would have spent a ton of time out of doors.) The most frequently used term is ‘swarthy’ (not brown), which approximates some of the current skin tones of some regions of the Middle East, such as Iran. Personally, I think it’s meaningless what He looks like. This is not to knock the OP. 🙂 It’s just that I’d rather be surprised. 😉
 
Um, he was not brown-skinner or black-skinned. Since he was Semitic, he is best described as yellow/olive in skin tone – not fair-Northern-European (pink/beige), but supposedly not the opposite either.
What do you mean by opposite? Is there an issue with describing typical middle-eastern skin tone as being brown?
There is no unanimity among scholars as to what he looks like, beyond the likelihood that his skin tone itself was not like that of a Northern European. (And also, he clearly would have spent a ton of time out of doors.) The most frequently used term is ‘swarthy’ (not brown), which approximates some of the current skin tones of some regions of the Middle East, such as Iran.
When I say brown, I do not mean dark brown. There are many shades of skin colour that can be described as brown, including most of the indigenous people’s of the middle-east. People I know who hail from that region describe their own skin colour as ‘brown’.

One thing we can say for certain is that he was not a white-skinned Caucasian. In order to fulfill Old Testament prophecy, Jesus would have been of an unremarkable appearance. He would have looked just like any other average person from the region he was born in, at that time.
Personally, I think it’s meaningless what He looks like.
I agree. What Jesus looked liked is irrelevant, what matters is the message he brought to us.
 
Personally, I think it’s meaningless what He looks like. This is not to knock the OP. 🙂 It’s just that I’d rather be surprised. 😉
I’m asking since every portrait I see of him He is white. Why don’t painters give him more color?
 
So far I have agreed with all that you have shared, Brendan. Thank you.
 
Jesus IMO looked more like Osama bin Laden then he did a blue eyed blonde haired European.
 
Jesus IMO looked more like Osama bin Laden then he did a blue eyed blonde haired European.
🙂 With regard to his skin colour, then probably, although, based on what we can gather from evidence of the typical people of that region at that time, he probably did not have long hair and a long beard, and as he was of unremarkable appearance he would not have been 6’4" tall.
 
:hmmm: (Pondering. Taking Inventory)

He was Jewish.
Per Continent Asian.
Lived in Africa as a child.
Capital of the Empire He lived in was in Europe.

White? Well not Nordic.
Yellow? Most Jews are closer to “white”
Black? Well no, but darker than Nordic whites per the tanning rays of the sun in Israel.

Eyes? We don’t know. Jews have brown, blue and maybe more.

But this is rather a diversion. Infinitely more important is He is Our Savior.

And probably different from each of us in some way.

But we are all made in His image! :dancing::extrahappy:👍
 
Jesus would not have been ‘White’. He was bom in the Middle-east, of middle-eastern parents…]
God is Middle-Eastern? I mean, I know *Mary *was a nice Jewish girl, but his dad…😃

Yeah there was no way Jesus was “white.” Especially not how we think of white (like the Celtic/Teutonic peoples of northern Europe at the time…)
 
I’m asking since every portrait I see of him He is white. Why don’t painters give him more color?
Because much of the art that we see today was created in Medieval/Renaissance Europe. Byzantine art was probably *closer *to what Jesus *possibly *looked like than Victorian art, surely. Again, it’s clear that he wasn’t a white man with blue eyes.
 
🙂 With regard to his skin colour, then probably, although, based on what we can gather from evidence of the typical people of that region at that time, he probably did not have long hair and a long beard, and as he was of unremarkable appearance he would not have been 6’4" tall.
He had shoulder-length hair. That was the default hair length of Mediterraneean Jews in First Century Palestine. They distinguished themselves from the short-cropped hair of the Romans in that way. They also did not wear their har way down their back (or long beards). They had shoulder-length hair. And virtually ALL of the visionary literature depicts the same.
 
I always pictured Jesus looking similar to this racial type of Yemeni Jew:
 
What do you mean by opposite? Is there an issue with describing typical middle-eastern skin tone as being brown?
There’s an issue with accuracy. I have known many many Middle-Easterners. Also, there is a mistaken notion that there is, and has always been, a uniformly dark look (hair, eyes) of the Middle East. Semitic peoples have had variations. There were also lighter-eyed people in the same area, even though dark eyes predominated.
I agree. What Jesus looked liked is irrelevant, what matters is the message he brought to us.
No,that was not my point, and not Jesus’ point. His point was a personal relationship because to “know” Him was to know the Father.

This is one of the heresies about Jesus, by the way: that he was a nice man with a nice message, and it’s “the message” that’s important. It’s the relationship that’s important. There have been numerous prophets and charismatic figures throughout history with great messages, and none of those were the singular God-man with a universal intimacy available to all of us.
 
Jesus IMO looked more like Osama bin Laden then he did a blue eyed blonde haired European.
He did not have super-long hair and a long scraggly beard. That doesn’t square with the anthropology of ancient Palestine. Just because he didn’t look like some Nordic Aryan does not mean he looked like OBL. It’s just another false dichotomy. He looked like neither, but I actually prefer these comments.
He was Jewish. Jews have brown, blue and maybe more.

But this is rather a diversion. Infinitely more important is He is Our Savior.

And probably different from each of us in some way.

But we are all made in His image!
 
Jesus would not have been ‘White’. He was bom in the Middle-east, of middle-eastern parents, so he clearly would have been of the ethnic origin of the people there. He wouldn’t have been some white guy with light brown hair, who suddenly popped up in the 1st century middle-east, where the indigenous people were brown-skinned with dark brown hair.

Jesus would have looked just like one of the locals (which he was). Isaiah 53 explains that the Messiah would not be someone that would be in any way special in appearance, “he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” Jesus would have looked just like any other Galilean. He would certainly not have been white.
Educated guesses. Possibly true. And yet … Jesus was Jewish. And some Jews (some you might know of even) are fair skinned. And blue eyed. And red haired. As well as dark haired and dark eyes. Jews migrated everywhere after 70 AD and the Roman destruction of the Temple.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTZngwD8pWJTjMGiF_ISFGkvnH3yt78T5qfc9dP5anBSyJL7MllZQ

Kirk Douglas - born Issur Danielovitch (blue eyes, light brown hair, white).

http://www.biography.com/imported/i...rofiles/S/Alicia-Silverstone-240974-1-402.jpg

Alicia Silverstone

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRTgVWzeZ1Rzk9f5Xid-K7vj3Moa3UH7VoHfvrTYaDWcSQGfTFBCQ
Woody Allen

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

Sammy Davis Jr. Dark Eyes, Dark Hair, Dark Skin. Jewish (convert) :blushing: ** - HAD to qualify.**
 
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