If you take a look at the Jewish population living in Israel today, you will probably be struck by the huge variety of physical traits. Millions of people all calling themselves “Jews” have gathered together after over 2000 years of being scattered throughout the world: Northern Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, North Africa, Ethiopia, Persia, the former Soviet Union, the Americas and the list goes on. All these Jews look rather different from each other. And yet, all claim to be descended from a single ancestor: “Abram the Hebrew” (Genesis 14:13). Is this really the case? Is it even possible to know what the ancient Israelites actually looked like?
No, unfortunately it is probably not possible to verify with any real certainty what Abraham looked like. Presumably, if he was born in Ur of the Chaldeans, located in modern-day southern Iraq, he would have had dark wavy hair, an olive complexion; an appearance characteristic of the populations that have lived in this region for millennia: Kurds, Turkmen, Jews, Armenians, etc. We can look to the Song of Songs for an description of what the Israelite ideal of beauty was (Song 5:10-16). However, beyond this very vague image, it is nearly impossible to know about the physical appearance of Abraham or of any of his Israelite descendants. If we cannot obtain concrete information about the genealogy of the ancient Israelites (nature), what about cultural features (nurture) of their appearance: clothing, hairstyle, facial hair, etc.?
In popular imagination, one of the most “obvious” features of an ancient Israelite man’s appearance is a full beard. Any modern illustration depicting the biblical period contains lots of dusty, turban-wearing Israelite men with unkempt beards. You will never see a clean shaven Israelite in a biblical film or drawing. Why is this? Is this just meant to make the actors look authentically “old-fashioned” or do we have evidence for the absence of shaved faces among Israelite men?
Contrary to the the ancient Egyptians (who were clean shaven) and Mesopotamians (who wore long groomed beards) who depicted themselves extensively in their art, the Israelites hardly left us images of themselves. The biblical prohibition against making graven images (Exodus 20:4) prevented the Israelites from producing art depicting themselves. So scholars mostly need to use textual descriptions found in the Bible to reconstruct the Israelites’ physical appearance.
The Hebrew Bible contains many passages which make it clear that beards are vital part of Israelite fashion. The Book of Psalms compares dwelling in peace with one’s brothers to “fine oil on the head running down onto the beard, the beard of Aaron, that comes down over the collar to his robe” (Psalm 133:2). Listen to two different musical versions of these words here and here. This metaphor is difficult to understand. Why is a well-oiled beard similar to brotherly harmony? Is it because dwelling in peace creates a feeling of overflowing bounty similar to the oil on Aaron’s beard? Is it because in the ancient Near East guests were welcomed by being anointed with fine oil? Perhaps. The main point for our purposes is that the high priest, Aaron, had a very long beard.
But lest one conclude that beards were only worn by the priestly class, we can find many biblical passages that indicate otherwise. Every Israelite man is commanded “you shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.” (Leviticus 19:27). This is the biblical basis for the sidelocks of hair (Hebrew: pe’ot) that Ultra-Orthodox men wear to this day, as seen in the image below. One might even go as far as to say that long sidelocks were the most distinctive feature of the Israelites’ appearance (circumcision was also very distinctive, but not outwardly visible). Jeremiah refers to the foreign nations that surround Israel collectively as “all those with shaven temples who live in the desert” (Jer. 9:25).
Among ancient Israelite men it was apparently considered humiliating to have one’s face shaven. When King Hanun of Ammon clips off half of the beards of David’s courtiers, he instructs them to “remain in Jericho until your beards grow back” (2 Samuel 10:5). Waiting several weeks for the hair to grow back in the ghost town of Jericho (abandoned since Joshua’s destruction of the city) was evidently preferable to the easier solution of simply shaving the other side off. A common form of greeting a fellow Israelite was to “grab his beard with the right hand to kiss him” (2 Samuel 20:9). Prior to visiting king David, it was imperative for Saul’s son Mephibosheth to prepare himself by doing the following: taking care of his feet, trimming his mustache, washing his clothes (2 Samuel 19:24). The mustache (Hebrew safam) was trimmed, but not the beard (zakan). Maybe the reason why shaving one’s beard was humiliating was that it was a pagan rite (Leviticus 21:5), a mourning practice (Job 1:20), or alternatively, a symbolic act performed by a holy man. The prophet Ezekiel, for example, is instructed as follows:
Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. (Ezekiel 5:1).
In fact, there are works of art from the period of the Bible that do depict Israelites. For example, this frieze found in the throne room of Sennacherib in Nineveh depicts the famous battle of Lachish. This was one of the most important battles fought by the Assyrians as they conquered most of the southern kingdom of Judah in 701 BC. In the image below we see Israelite prisoners being led off into captivity. Note the short curly beards on the faces of the men. These are closely cropped as opposed to the long beard of the Assyrian soldiers.
Here is a depiction of King Jehu of Israel bowing down to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III. Note the beard.
Another rare artistic depiction which might be depicting Israelites is this tomb painting from Egypt. A detail from the tomb of Khnumhotep II, an aristocrat buried in the Beni Hasan cemetery in Middle Egypt. This painting depicts a family of nomadic traders entering Egypt from Canaan in the 19th cent. BCE. This is a very rare depiction of ancient Semites, dressed in colorful tunics, as opposed to the Egyptians wearing only white waistcloths. Perhaps they have come to buy grain. The man bending over the ibex is named “Abisha the Hyksos” according to the inscription. This is a very nice visual counterpart to the story of Jacob’s sons migrating to Egypt.
The Hebrew word for beard is zakan (זקן) and appears 19 times in the Hebrew Bible. Interestingly the Greek equivalent pogon (πώγων) does not appear even once in the New Testament. What should we make of this? Were Jews clean shaven during the Roman period? No. Certainly the majority of Jewish men still had beards, as they did during the period of the Hebrew Bible. There was a small population of highly Hellenized Jews that might have shaved their beards, as was the custom among Romans. But it would have been very odd to see a Jewish man in the Land of Israel without a beard until the 20th century. The Babylonian Talmud states that Rabbi Yohanan was very handsome but did not possess perfect beauty because he lacked a beard. Interestingly, the beard is referred to by the alias “the adornment of the face” (Baba Metzia 84b). Let’s conclude by quoting one of the rare examples of a description of an ancient Jew. The following description of the physical appearance of the apostle Paul is found in the the 2nd century apocryphal book, the Acts of Paul and Thecla:
He was a man of middling size, and his hair was scanty, and his legs were a little crooked, and his knees were projecting, and he had large eyes and his eyebrows met, and his nose was somewhat long, and he was full of grace and mercy; at one time he seemed like a man, and at another time he seemed like an angel.
Not a very flattering description! Evidently, Paul’s beard was so obvious that the author did not even see the need to mention it.
The Song of Solomon describes Solomon, a Hebrew King.
Song of Solomon 5:10–16
The Bride Praises Her Beloved
She
10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
sitting beside a full pool.1
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is polished ivory,2
bedecked with sapphires.3
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and the his is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
Ruddy: red , locks wavy, eyes like streams of water:blue , bathed in milk:white , polished ivory:white , sapphires:blue , alabaster: white , appearance like Lebanon: Lebanon means white.
The Bible’s description of what King Solomon, a Hebrew looked like:
Song of Solomon 5:10–16
The Bride Praises Her Beloved
She
10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
sitting beside a full pool.1
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is polished ivory,2
bedecked with sapphires.3
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and the his is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
rudy: meaning red ; ivory: white; sapphires: blue; streams of water: blue; alabaster: White; Lebanon: means white.
-God Bless
Remember, Jacob/Israel married his two first cousins, from his uncle Lavan, Lavan meaning white
DOING A STUDY ON THE TABERNACLE. WHAT WOULD BE THE AVERAGE HEIGHT OF A HEBREW DURING THE EXODUS EXPERIENCE?
Um. Ancient israelites were black. Negroes are the REAL hebrews of the bible. The curses of deuteronomy fit nobody else but the negro race. Evidence is all in the bible… KING TUT’S mummy has black skin… google it.
Rev 2:9 TELLS you that the jews in israel today are not the actual jews — but they are the blasphemous synagogue of satan.
Stop spreading false teachings, you have been warned.
All of Israel will be saved — All of EDOM will be DESTROYED.
click the link below for prood (from ex-egyptian president) that the TRUE hebrews of the bible are BLACK PEOPLE.
JESUS IS BLACK.
SHALOM
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/28eb65e1572df88932895fd08e0454248f3ea3530f739b956ddcf783465ba0da.jpg
shalom Ahch thank you for spreading this truth!!!!!
The bible does not say what color Jesus was, so it did not matter to God. We do think Adam was red, earthtone, Eve was white, bonetone.
a course not. The European translations aren’t old enough.
YOU should STOP spreading this absurd.
You are a real liar! You even changed the text of revelation! This is an absurd.
I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Rev 2:9
This message is for the Church of Smyrna, made by JEWS. The church of Smyrna was very persecuted by non-christian jews. But Jesus is conforting them, saiying that only they are the true sons of Abraham.
“Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations (Gentiles) will be blessed through you.”” (Galatians 3:7)
Paul is reading the words of God’s promise to Abraham to say that He would bless the goyim, (meaning both “nations” and “Gentiles”) through him. He is pointing out that God’s blessings are not just for the Jews, those who become circumcised and obey the Torah, but also for the Gentiles of the world. Interestingly, when God told Abraham this, he was still a Gentile himself! From this fact, Paul can conclude that Gentile believers in God are true sons of Abraham. He says,
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Galations. 3:29).
But Jesus is NOT saiying that the people of Smyrna aren’t genetically jews. He was saiying that they aren’t the spiritual sons of Abraham.
Jeremiah 35:11 is what that passage in Rev is referring to. He letting you know that he knows the kenites were mixed into the house of Judah. And he allowed it to teach us a lesson that even they listen to their father but many don’t listen to him. They wouldn’t partake because of the curse of cain in gen 4:12. Which it repeats it in Jeremiah 35. In fact at that time Jews did enter into thehouse of Judah that were not all Jew.
You should love YOUR OWN culture and respect the culture that doesn’t belong to your people.
Stop this nonsense “jews are not true descendants of Israel”
we have the DNA test that proves: The jewish comunities of Ashkenazim, Sephardim and Mizrahim share strong genetic bonds. The community of Arzebaijan is from 500 BEFORE Christ (exiled from Babylon!) and they share strong bonds with the sephardim from Portugal, Morocco, Spain, etc, and with Ashkenazim from Poland and Mizrahim from Iraq and Iran.
We have linguistics proofs. Sephardic jews speaks ladino (spanish + hebrew + arabic), ashkenazim speask yiddish (hebrew+german+eastern europe languages). The people of Africa don’t speak languages from semitic branches (only the languages from the region of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Lybia, closer to Israel).
They were persecuted during medieval ages, renaissance, modern ages… they doesn’t appeared recently.
A good example is the Romaniotes comunitie from Greece. They are a separated branch, not Ashkenazim, not Sephardim, not Mizrahim. And they have genetic bonds with them. We have the Mountain Jews from Caucasus, they all share higher bonds with other jewish groups than with the local groups.
The non-jewish groups that have most close genetic relationship with jews are: Italian, Iberian, Greek, and Palestinian. Which is right according to history.
We have the DNA, and your opinion doesn’t matter. This is history and biology.
Some articles about the links between jewish groups and middle eastern like Syrians and Palestinians
Abraham’s Children in the Genome Era: Major Jewish Diaspora Populations Comprise Distinct Genetic Clusters with Shared Middle Eastern Ancestry
https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(10)00246-6?code=ajhg-site#secd165063069e1391
studies show that Jews and palestinians are both descendants of the ancient israelite people
http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.398.5
Sorry for my terrible english. I am Brazilian, and I have jewish blood from my ancestors. I will not let anyone destroy my heritage with lies.
Thank you for your post. It has provided me a wealth of information which coincides with my DNA results.
King Tut isn’t Hebrew…calling Israeli people the “blasphemous synagogue of Satan” is not very Christ-like or accurate.
Beimg a Hebrew or Jew wasn’t a race it was a religion and didn’t require you to be any race. They were of every race, even scriptures told that a multitude of many people of many nations joined the Isrealities in the Exodus.
http://www.britam.org
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/tmm/index.htm
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Dura-Europos_synagogue_painting
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-oldest-modernist-paintings-20169750/
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/fayum-mummy-portraits-expose-information-about-precise-painting-techniques-020744
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/527836018804846818/
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/bct/index.htm
http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/documents/Jesus_What did He look like .htm
http://thenazareneway.com/likeness_of_our_saviour.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generations_of_Noah
there are some Israelites according to the flesh walking around called African Americans.
Shalom! Ma Nishma? How did ancient Israelites take care of their teeth with Natural Holistic methods? What did they do to prevent tooth decay? And can you recommend a website that has this type of research information? Your help would be most deeply appreciated. In advance, Toda Robah! Ani Ahavah & Shaalu Shalom Yerushayliem Yisrael, The Capitol Of Israel Forever, Home of My Heart!
I read Weston A Price’s book about how isolated indigenous cultures prevented tooth decay. To make a long story short they ate food rich in Vitamin K2 also known as Activator X. This vitamin is found in the fat of meat and milk from grass eating animals and most wildlife. Their diet probably had higher amount of bone forming minerals and vitamins like vitamin D and vitamin A.
The Ivri/Hebrews of the Bible are black, the book itself confirms this.
David; where in the bible (new testament or old { five books of Moses} did you find a reference to color of people?
I can answer that easily, Song of Solomon 1:5-6, Exodus 4:6, Revelation 1:15, Leviticus 13:3
The color of the Israelite’s skin is truly not of importance, most of the bible does not refer to a persons color and there are few descriptions of people by color of skin, which might lead one to believe that perhaps God doesn’t see humanity by the color of our skin as being important. There is much dispute as to the color of Jesus skin, his mother being an Galilean, Jewish Israelite from Nazareth could have had any color skin because Nazareth was many different peoples of many colors and Jesus’s father was God who is and was and ever will be, God is all light not a color at all and I don’t think God cares what color we assign to his son our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I think that too much of the world is bent on who is the best color and is searching for any kind of confirmation of their value based on the color of their skin. Even to the degree that people who are seeking to find the origins of humanity so the can claim that whatever color original man was is best.
Your skin color cannot, will not, does not determine the destiny of your soul.
Not to tear holes in your answer and implication of the color of the people in the bible, but
Song of songs 1, which is Solomon’s is the brides confession of love for her betrothed in the first 7 scriptures, so the self description “I am dark but lovely” and “Do not gaze at me because I am dark” are from the perspective of the Bride, she even identifies herself and explains why she is dark and that she is lovely in spite of it as if more fair skin would be more desirable. 8-11 is his response to her 12-14 is her, you can see from whose perspective each part is being sung or was written, further down this page where it is broken down.
As for Exodus 4:6
If my hand were to be become white like snow then be restored to the same of the rest of my skin, one could clearly see the difference as “white” people are not actually white like snow, they are shades of pink to gold, tan, beige even bone which is still not white like snow and if I spend much time in the sun my skin is from tan to red or ruddy.
Rev 1:14-16
14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow
(anyone of any age or color could have white hair, this part cannot be used to determine his race)
His eyes were like a flame of fire,
(one could think he is referring to blue as the hotter a fire, it becomes blue but he could mean orange or red or even perhaps white)
15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace,
(Burnish definition is – to make shiny or lustrous or polished, it does not mean burned or blackened or darker, it means brighter. Since Bronze is made of copper which is best described as orange, and tin, which is silver and sometimes other metals which are also often silver in color such as lead, manganese, aluminum or nickle, Bronze is from gold to light brown unless it has become tarnished which would not be like what is described above. When metal or metallic elements are refined in fire or a furnace, they become more bright or lighter in color than they were originally as the tarnish and impurities are burned away and you are left with the brighter refined product.)
Allow me to suggest Song of Solomon 5:10-16,
You can read this in the first few comments on this page but the description breaks down to
Ruddy: red , locks-hair wavy and black, eyes like streams of water:blue and bathed in milk:white or his eyes are light blue, his head, arms and feet are gold, possibly because they are exposed to the sun and have become a golden tan, more than the rest of his body which is described as polished ivory:white , alabaster:white)
Now Leviticus, but lets drop down to 14
14 But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. 16 But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, 17 and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean.
(It is difficult to determine what color the people were that are being referred to since this is not about a persons skin color parse, it is about Leprosy and how to identify it.)
and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and this face was like the sun shining in full strength.
(regarding his face is like the sun shining, I would take this to mean bright like the sun and very difficult to maintain looking at, but not as a color such a yellow that many convey the sun as.)
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
(This is a song written for Solomon by his Bride)
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine;
(if it were not from the perspective of having been written by his bride, one might believe the author, which you indicate is Solomon, was attracted to men)
3 your anointing oils are fragrant;
your name is oil poured out;
therefore virgins love you.
4 Draw me after you; let us run.
The king has brought me into his chambers.
We will exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.
5 I am very dark, but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
because the sun has looked upon me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own vineyard I have not kept!
(This part here indicates that her brothers did not like her or were angry with her so they made her work the vineyards and because she was outside all day and in the sun, her skin, not otherwise dark was darkened by prolonged exposure to the sun. She is explaining why she has dark skin and that she is lovely in spite of the color of her skin)
7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where you pasture your flock,
where you make it lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who veils herself
beside the flocks of your companions?
(Very clearly the author here is female as she refers to herself as such)
(this is Solomon to his bride)
8 If you do not know,
O most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I compare you, my love,
to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make for you[b] ornaments of gold,
studded with silver.
(Her)
12 While the king was on his couch,
my nard gave forth its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
that lies between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
in the vineyards of Engedi.
(Him)
15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful.
Our couch is green;
17 the beams of our house are cedar;
our rafters are pine.
(Her)
2:1 I am a rose[c] of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
2 As a lily among brambles,
so is my love among the young women.
(A Lily among brambles would stand out as rare or special so her love for him is special in comparison to all the other young women)
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house,[d]
and his banner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apples,
for I am sick with love.
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
7 I adjure you,[e] O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the doves of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
(Him)
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11 for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing[f] has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes[g] for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”
(Her)
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he grazes[h] among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.[i] the
Jeremiah 14:2 JEWS ARE BLACK
How do you know this?
Adam was red, earthtone, eve was white, bone tone!
Very, very few.
Hebrews were thought to be Africans (Egyptians) in the bible… Case closed.