ANSWER:
No He did not have long hair.
Short hair was the dominant accepted style for men in the time of Christ. Pick up any good, illustrated history book on the period and you will see the evidence. (For instance: History of the Holy Land, Michael Avi-Yonah, editor, and Daniel to Paul, Gaalyahu, editor.) Notice the busts and statues of various Greeks and Romans of the time of Christ and you will see this to be true. A Roman with long hair at that time was an oddity.
Roman emperors set the style for the entire empire. And all the Roman Emperors before, during, and after the time of Christ wore short hair. Neither General Pompey nor Emperor Trojan wore long hair. Nor did Julius Ceasar, Cesear Augustus, King Herod Agrippa I of Judea – just to mention a few.
Prior to the coming of the Romans, it was the Hellenistic Greek culture that dominated the Eastern Mediterranean, and Judea. Even in Christ’s day a large part of the Jewish population was Greek-speaking and Hellenistic in nature (see John 12:20; Acts 6:1). The Greek Hellenistic style was for men to wear short hair (Cornfield pp. 1, 146). On page 146 of Daniel to Paul is a picture of a marble statuette of an unidentified man of this Hellenistic period. Notice that the author, a noted historian and archeologist, could not tell whether the man was Gentile or Jewish. Why? Because the styles of the day were the same throughout the region and the men wore short hair.
What about the non-Hellenistic Jews? The Jewish Talmud, which is anti-Hellenistic, states that all priests should have their hair cut once every thirty days (Ta’anith 17a). These Jews were aware of the statement in Ezekiel 44:20: “Nor shall they shave their heads, nor let their hair grow long; but they shall keep their hair well-trimmed.” The Talmud further tells us exactly what hair style is meant – The “Julian” or what we would call a “Caesar cut” (Sanhedrin 22b). There are numerous other references to cutting hair in the Talmud. And the priests were the religious leaders whom God intended to set the example for the community. “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 2:7).
Some have mistakenly assumed that Christ was under a Nazarite vow. This was not the case. Jesus Christ grew up in Nazareth (Matthew 1:23; Mark 1:9; Luke 1:26; John 1:45). And, the early Christians were sometimes called Nazarenes. But neither of these words have anything to do with a Nazarite vow. Notice that Jesus drank wine (Matthew 11:19). He also on occasion touched a dead body (Matthew 9:25). Both these actions were absolutely forbidden to anyone under a Nazarite vow (Numbers 6:3, 6). Those under a Nazarite vow let their hair grow long as a token of humiliation. Today, those who wear long hair are generally anything but humble. Usually they grow their hair long in defiance of society. Another important fact to note – is that as soon as the time of the Nazarite vow was over, the one who undertook the vow was to shave his head (Numbers 6:18). The shameful period of the vow was over!
Now notice I Corinthians 11:14: “Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor [shame] to him.” It is a shame for a man to have long hair! Nature shows this. Since Jesus inspired this verse (II Timothy 3:16), He did not contradict His own Word by wearing his hair long.
The Bible gives no exact description of what Jesus looked like as a human being. But we are told, “…He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2). Jesus looked like any other Jew of His day. On several occasions He was able to pass through crowds because He looked just like anyone else (Luke 4:30. John 8:59, John 10:39). Judas had to use “a kiss” to point out to Jesus enemies which one He was. Judas would not have had to do this if Jesus had long hair.
