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What color was Jesus?

If Jesus existed, what color was he? All of the Jews I have ever seen are white. Some black churches have changed the color of their Jesus to Black. This isn't a bad idea because young black people grow up praying to a white Jesus and that just adds to the white supremacy issue.
I have read where in some cases in countries around the world, their Jesus looks like a regular citizen. I mean, in China, their Jesus is a Chinese person, etc.. In Africa, some groups have an African Jesus.
Basically, what color were the Jews around the time of Jesus? Most ancient paintings of Jesus show him as white, perhaps because the painters like Michaelangelo were white Europeans. What color was Jesus?

Grecio 7 Aug 16
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Who cares? Color is just a euphemism for race or ethnicity.

I've always maintained Christ was just another avatar of the true God: Krishna.

I think there's actually some study on this, due to the similarity of the names, due to Krishna being a much older name that could have beem transformed into Christ. Some scholars think some dude with a god complex from north India traveled to the middle east and wound up getting nailed to a cross. When you look at the typically description of jesus on the cross you basically see him in a loongi, a loincloth worn by Indian gurus and sages.

So Christ is really a South East Asian person as far as I am concerened! 🙂

As far as skin color...i'll go with "black tea with two splashes of milk". 😆

Great comment. Thanks.

@Grecio In the bible, he was born in the Middle East and in his early adolescence argued biblical passage with the rabbis.

While we shouldn't believe the bible, it's more likely he looked like the current residents of Israel. Hey, his mom came from there.

@WonderWartHog99 his dad too, I'd wager! 😇

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Why are we worried about the color of Jesus and why would I care? The only reason I can find is to personalize the Jesus experience.

As I mentioned, many black kids grow up in America worshiping a white Jesus. Is this good for them? Does it matter?

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Jews are not that airtight community as they like to say. The genetics of the local population "leaks" someway into the Jewish community. So you know "white jews" because probably you live in a white area.
As told here any place that have a Jewish community old enough, they will just look like the average people of the area with maybe some religious/cultural clothes/accessories to show what is their religion.
So it is fair to say that the historical Jesus that probably existed and was a reformist of the Judaism looked like a palestinian from 2000 years ago. Nothing different from the semitic tribes that lived in that place(before Arabic expansion some centuries after)

So, what color was Jesus? What color were ancient Jews?

@Grecio around the same as the semitic people that still leave in that area, palestinians, syrians, jordanians, lebanese*...
Of course I am not entering in the discussion that colour is not the right term for it. This should be obvious.

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To ask the titular question assumes that Jesus was a real historical figure who had a colour. Many here won't accept that without question. If the character was actually made up by 3rd century greeks then maybe it's fairer to model Jesus as they'd have imagined him. It it were a weaving together of a number of myths and legends then maybe a single colour is not appropriate.
However to answer your related question: "What colour we the Jews around the time of Jesus?" Here's one expert reconstruction.

[metro.co.uk]

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not all the jews i have seen are white. not everyone's experience is the same. ethiopia is full of black jews. they are not converts, either.

as for jesus... that's a greek name. just sayin'.

g

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If he existed, he would have been a desert man. I seriously doubt that he would have been blonde with blue eyes. Most likely dark skin (not necessarily black) and dark eyes.

1

Any color you like just do a rattle can make over. 😝

1

Are you for real? Jesus is mexican. What color are Mexicans?

Brown?

1

Jesus of Nazareth equates to
John Doe from Nowhere, in rabbi-speak anyway, fwiw
theres even a hollywood movie, done in the 1940s,
Jayne Seymour or some bombshell or other,
"Meet John Doe"
where that kinda comes out
available free on YT

1

Brown.

BD66 Level 8 Aug 16, 2020
1

I’ve seriously doubted the existence of a jesus for some time now, so I’m still trying to determine if he/ it were human/ god..

Varn Level 8 Aug 16, 2020

yeh, it was a shock to me too, to find that it is literally written in the Bible that He did not literally exist. Problem is that that is in code, so to speak, but it really isnt too hard to lay out

0

Okay, a lot of people think Jesus never existed. I disagree. He was more likely a revolutionary reformer who believed himself to be the next king of Israel. THAT is what a messiah was. When people turn him into a god that doesn't mean that's what Jesus taught or believed. So if you go looking for the Jesus that Christians created you won't find him. He wasn't performing miracles. He simply understood prophecy and more than likely wanted to reunite the tribes of Israel. Other factions wanted this too and some where more deceptive about it than others, believing that the ends justified the means. But this is why we read that the disciples of Jesus were armed. But in their culture it wasn't good enough to bring the tribes back politically. Because other groups were trying to do that and trying to get others to rally around them and their "terrorist" activities against Rome.

Why do you see white Jews? Because eventually there's going to be a cultural exchange and a mixing between everyone in the region. In less than 200 years in the United States we have produced all shades of brown. Whites are a shade (just a very very very light shade) of brown. If you were ghost white in Africa or the middle east it is more than likely people would have thought you were sick with a skin disease or dying.

So naturally, if you have Africa (and actually the middle east in ancient maps was part of Africa) in one direction and Europe and the Caucases in another and Asia... the middle area is eventually going to have all shades in between and not be uniform.

There are a number of reasons black people believe Jesus was black. It is believed that this is where the garden of Eden was and humans were originally formed out of the dirt. We have hair growing out of our skin just like the ground has grass. And they were herdsmen so it doesn't make sense that the Hebrews were originally living in a desert region.

Then there's the fact that the Israelites were in Egypt for 400 years. And it was a mixed multitude that left out of there. But Egypt likely looks different than it did in ancient times as far as skin color. Again, trade. Foreign women would have been seen by different cultures as exotic the same way we see them now; the same way that opposites attract now.

Of course, also, one of the miracles of Moses was turning his skin "leprous as snow". This would not have been an eye catching trick if Moses was already white. Also... when Moses was a baby it wasn't like "oh... here is a baby that is obviously one of those Hebrew slaves that they are trying to trick us into believing is one of ours".

The fact that Mary and Joseph went to hide in Egypt and not Europe is also telling. People from Ethiopia were probably more distinctly dark during the time of Yeshua ("Jesus" ) but most people were probably some shade of brown.

Then you have the description in the book of Revelation of wooly hair and bronze feet.

[history.com]

One more... let's look at Acts 21: 37-39

37 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?

38 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?

39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

So clearly, if Paul (an Israelite) was White the chief captain would not have been surprised by his speech. Instead the chief captain specifically confuses Paul for an Egyptian. The Israelites were likely indistinguishable from Egyptians. Moses married an Ethiopian woman named Zipporah. So you also have to look at the people they married.

It was really Roman catholicism that introduced the image of the white Jesus. In reality he may have looked more like Haile Selassie from Ethiopia. You really can't make too many assumptions about skin color in that region except that it is highly unlikely that Jesus was white. Rome was a big empire and a lot of the original Jews actually died in battle against Rome. There were also European Jews who became Jewish by conversion.

Thank you for that detailed explanation. It makes absolute sense.

There is very, very little archealogical evidence that the israelites were actually ever in egypt. Out of all the hyroglifics found there, the is only one small stone has re word "hebrews" written on it.

0

Based on the church images I've seen, he was all the white colors of the rainbow

0

If he existed, odds are good that he would have had dark hair and eyes, and olive or brown skin with fairly typical Middle Eastern features. I read that the popular image of a very Aryan looking Jesus was modeled after Cardinal Cesare Borgia, Son of Pope Alexander IV, in the 15th century.

Deb57 Level 8 Aug 20, 2020
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On the other hand, many dark skinned cultures believe that those within their culture with lighter skin are more beautiful, (I personally think tanned skin is more healthy looking and therefore more attractive, so I don't understand their reasoning, but anyway....) so its possible that the idea of painting an image of someone they worshiped or looked up to would best be done in light colored skin rather than reality.

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According to the "THE BOOK" aka "THE BIBLE" STORY, Jesus was Middle Eastern and therefore would probably have looked like a person we have come to identify as a terrorist.

That’s an abominably racist comment

@UUNJ I think you have misunderstood me. The tendency in the US is to call others names out of fear. The latest gossip trend after 911 is to call and see Middle Eastern people as terrorist as a whole, Name calling and judging in other words and then fear and prejudice to follow. A created delusion. What I am saying is that, according to the Bible, Jesus was from the Middle East and was Middle Eastern. And if he were actually a man walking the earth today many would assume he was a terrorist.

Maybe I am being naive to my own point of view but in my heart mind and soul I don't feel like what I have said has anything to do with racism.

Racism would be me saying Jesus was a terrorist. Instead I said, we would consider him a terrorist within the mindset of our culture.

0

I've never heard of an objective scale of skin color; the closest would be a paint department chip, and those are given arbitrary names. Really what you're asking to respond like a rorschach test of people's concept of race.

Well, I can tell the difference between black and white.

@Grecio Can you now? How? In the US, Black is anyone with less than 100% 'White' ancestry or otherwise having "African" features and coloration. My cousin worked as a lifeguard one summer and he became as dark skinned as an average American 'Black.' European Jews were considered to not be 'White.' Can you tell European Jews from 'Whites'? What color is Gal Gadot?

@racocn8 I've been stopped by rapid fire Spanish by those who think I'm one of their own. Petunia felt she had to tell her relatives because I like the outdoors, I don't look Irish.

0

Invisible and intangible.

SCal Level 7 Aug 16, 2020
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An earlier posting , asked if there was a man named Jesus ? I don't believe it was an uncommon name . The guy across the street from my home is Jesus Garcia . So yes , I believe there was a man named Jesus . I don't believe he was the son of God any more than any of the rest of us . I strongly suspect a man of some two thousand years ago , who lived in a normally sunny climate , would be like everyone else , in that the skin on his hands , neck , face , and feet , would be sun tanned and the skin covered by clothing would be paler .

it was the most common name in the mideast at the time (Joshua)

0

He is/was clear invisible since he never existed like himself his own father god!!!

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