THE BIBLE ON HAIR LENGTH
I recently stirred up a hornet's nest on Facebook when I pointed out in a comment on a post from CRTV (Conservative Review TeleVision), Mark Levin's online conservative news channel, that the DUCK DYNASTY guys (Phil, in this case) apparently never read I Corinthians 11:14; or, if they had read it, simply ignored it. You would have thought I'd appointed myself judge, jury and executioner (maybe even God Himself), just by quoting a verse that's in His Word. I thought it prudent to write a more thorough and cohesive treatise on the subject since a bunch of disjointed comments on Facebook hardly did the topic justice. That, and God seemed to be after me to do it since He threw that ball my way via that exchange. (As with other articles here, this is subject to later revision as is so conducive to this online medium.)
I Corinthians 11:14 states: "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" This verse, and the two that follow, are the culmination of a dissertation began back in verse 3. He starts by laying out a hierarchy. "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." He goes on in verse 4 to explain that "Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonereth his head." This would seem to be saying that, if a man prays or preaches (prophesies) with any covering on his physical head, he dishonors his spiritual head, Christ (see verse 3). The fact that hair is considered a covering is indicated in verse 15 (the one right after the notorious verse 14), which says: "But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." (No need of a hijab or a burka ladies, your hair does the job quite nicely and appropriately.)
The hierarchy is further elaborated on in verses 7-9: "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." This goes back to the creation account given in Genesis. In Genesis 2:18, God noted that "...It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." After bringing all the creatures He had created before Adam so he could name them (verses 19-20), He notes at the end of verse 20, "...but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him." The creation of Eve, and her union with Adam is described in the remaining verses of the chapter (21-25). Verse 10 of I Corinthians states: "For this cause ought a woman to have power on her head because of the angels." This would seem to hearken again back to Genesis, chapter 3 where Eve is tricked by the Devil into disobeying God, and later in Genesis 6:2 where "...the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." (This looks much like a biblical explanation of the Greek stories of the gods taking mortal wives and having children by them--demigods like Hercules, or later Nimrod, and Perseus.) Verse 10 offers a reason behind all of this as pertaining to women beyond just the hierarchy of God and men.
The question then arises: But didn't Jesus have long hair? Not according to this and other scriptures. This assertion most often arises due to the fact that all Renaissance paintings and Catholic icons portray Jesus with long hair. This is probably due to the fact that the artists themselves had long hair (see DaVinci's self portrait; he's the painter of the famous Last Supper), and they were merely trying to contemporize Christ by creating God in their own image -- a reversal of the actual order of creation in Genesis 1:26-27, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
The question also arises due to Jesus being a Nazarene, which is a citizen of the city of Narareth. They confuse a Nazarene with someone who has taken a Nazarite vow, described in Numbers 6, part of which was, "All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of his head grow." --verse 5. At the end of the period of the vow though, "...the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings." --verse 18. Note this vow was for a set period of time, with a beginning and an end. The only exception to this was Samson in Judges 13-16. He was "... a Nazarite unto God from the womb...." --Judges 13:5. The only rule of a Nazarite vow that seemed to apply to him was the hair: "...and no razor shall come on his head...." (13:5). He also was the only one gifted with great strength because of it. The Son of God would not need to take a vow as He was the Creator of all and had legions of angels at His beck and call as well.
Jesus lived during the end of of the Old Testament period. It ended with His death on the cross and His subsequent resurrection. As such, He abode by the standards of the law and customs of the Jews where they did not counter His Word. One of these was given in Ezekiel 44:20, "Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads." Based on this, no, Jesus did not have long hair. You might ask if hair was that important to Christ; well, He did say that "...the very hairs of your head are all numbered." --Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7. That would seem to indicate that it was important to Him.
The only creatures in the Bible resembling the modern-day caricatures of Christ are found in Revelation 9:1-11. Here we see monstrosities called locusts, which some have labeled demon centaurs, described as having bodies shaped like battle-ready horses with golden crowns on their heads, "...and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions." (verses 7-8).
One example of someone in the Bible who didn't seem to regard long hair as an issue, for himself anyway, was Absalom, King David's son. In II Samuel 14:26 we read, "And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight." That's a lot of hair! Absalom ended up rebelling against his father David and, with David's troops in hot pursuit, Absalom met his fate. "And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away. And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground?" II Samuel 18:9-11. "Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him." II Samuel 18:14-15. One can imagine Absalom riding along with his hair billowing in the air behind him as he went under that oak, and his hair getting tangled up in the tree and yanking him off his ride, leaving him a sitting (or, in this case, hanging) duck. Then there's the scripture that reads: "...for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." --Galatians 3:13; referring back to Deuteronomy 21:23: "...(for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)...."
Then the objection of judging one another comes up. "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged." That phrase is so often used as if it were a free pass; "I'm not judging you, so don't you judge me." "Only God can judge." While that last is ultimately true, He gave us is Word to go by, with the admonition to "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." --John 7:24. But isn't hair length appearance? Yes, but the standard was set in God's Word, not by man. While we know that "... the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." -- I Samuel 16:7, our testimony to other men will be based on what they see us do, how we dress and act (first impression, the outward appearance), then on what they hear; not only from us, but other's as well.
Our salvation is not of works; like cutting your hair, charitable deeds, obeying the law, etc. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." --Ephesians 2:8-9. There is no boasting before God of your works like Jesus said many will try to do: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." --Matthew 7:22-23. "That no flesh should glory in his presence." --I Corinthians 1:29. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us...." --Titus 3:5.
So we aren't doing this to impress God and obtain His favor, but we are doing this as a witness to others. James 2:20 tells us "...that faith without works is dead." Our works are an outward manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness temperance...." --Galatians 5:22). As James 2:15-17 illustrates: "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." Our outward appearance and actions should reflect the person within as a representative (ambassador) of Christ by keeping the standards He set for us. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ...." --II Corinthians 5:20. As Paul concluded in I Corinthians 11:16 on this subject: "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God."
The question then arises: What is long? Using common sense, shoulder length hair on men would be too long. There is no hard a fast standard as to exact length, so we might gather that God left a little leeway for style, personal taste (free will), and how often one might be able to get a haircut. If you want a standard to go by, use the military's; you won't go wrong there.
NOTE: In the movie HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, based on the book of the same title, little Colton Burpo was in the hospital and had a near death experience during which he visited heaven. There he saw his older sister, who had died due to a miscarriage, grandparents he had never met, and Jesus Himself. After repeated grilling by his father as to what Jesus looked like, showing him various pictures and paintings of the usual long-haired Jesus (to which Colton always said, "No, that's not Him."), near the end of the movie, he walked by his dad on his way outside, and saw a painting by Akiane Kramarik that his dad was looking at, and said, "That's Him." Akiane was a child art prodigy who'd had a similar experience to Colton's, and painted the man she saw. This is what she painted:
The only creatures in the Bible resembling the modern-day caricatures of Christ are found in Revelation 9:1-11. Here we see monstrosities called locusts, which some have labeled demon centaurs, described as having bodies shaped like battle-ready horses with golden crowns on their heads, "...and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions." (verses 7-8).
One example of someone in the Bible who didn't seem to regard long hair as an issue, for himself anyway, was Absalom, King David's son. In II Samuel 14:26 we read, "And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight." That's a lot of hair! Absalom ended up rebelling against his father David and, with David's troops in hot pursuit, Absalom met his fate. "And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away. And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground?" II Samuel 18:9-11. "Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him." II Samuel 18:14-15. One can imagine Absalom riding along with his hair billowing in the air behind him as he went under that oak, and his hair getting tangled up in the tree and yanking him off his ride, leaving him a sitting (or, in this case, hanging) duck. Then there's the scripture that reads: "...for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." --Galatians 3:13; referring back to Deuteronomy 21:23: "...(for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)...."
Then the objection of judging one another comes up. "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged." That phrase is so often used as if it were a free pass; "I'm not judging you, so don't you judge me." "Only God can judge." While that last is ultimately true, He gave us is Word to go by, with the admonition to "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." --John 7:24. But isn't hair length appearance? Yes, but the standard was set in God's Word, not by man. While we know that "... the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." -- I Samuel 16:7, our testimony to other men will be based on what they see us do, how we dress and act (first impression, the outward appearance), then on what they hear; not only from us, but other's as well.
Our salvation is not of works; like cutting your hair, charitable deeds, obeying the law, etc. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." --Ephesians 2:8-9. There is no boasting before God of your works like Jesus said many will try to do: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." --Matthew 7:22-23. "That no flesh should glory in his presence." --I Corinthians 1:29. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us...." --Titus 3:5.
So we aren't doing this to impress God and obtain His favor, but we are doing this as a witness to others. James 2:20 tells us "...that faith without works is dead." Our works are an outward manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness temperance...." --Galatians 5:22). As James 2:15-17 illustrates: "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." Our outward appearance and actions should reflect the person within as a representative (ambassador) of Christ by keeping the standards He set for us. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ...." --II Corinthians 5:20. As Paul concluded in I Corinthians 11:16 on this subject: "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God."
The question then arises: What is long? Using common sense, shoulder length hair on men would be too long. There is no hard a fast standard as to exact length, so we might gather that God left a little leeway for style, personal taste (free will), and how often one might be able to get a haircut. If you want a standard to go by, use the military's; you won't go wrong there.
NOTE: In the movie HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, based on the book of the same title, little Colton Burpo was in the hospital and had a near death experience during which he visited heaven. There he saw his older sister, who had died due to a miscarriage, grandparents he had never met, and Jesus Himself. After repeated grilling by his father as to what Jesus looked like, showing him various pictures and paintings of the usual long-haired Jesus (to which Colton always said, "No, that's not Him."), near the end of the movie, he walked by his dad on his way outside, and saw a painting by Akiane Kramarik that his dad was looking at, and said, "That's Him." Akiane was a child art prodigy who'd had a similar experience to Colton's, and painted the man she saw. This is what she painted:
posted by Postmann | 4:00 PM
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