Was Jesus a black man according to Revelation 1:14-15 as Denzel Washington claims in Malcolm X the movie?

Question

14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;
Revelation 1:14-15 (New King James Version)

Answer 1

Revelation is apocalyptic, a kind of writing that is highly symbolic. His head and hair were white like wool, suggests wisdom and dignity. Read the book for its overall message and resist the temptation to become overly enamored with the details. :)

Answer 2

Yes he was black, read it again in Daniel 10:5-7.
When Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus an Angel came unto Jozef and Mary to tell he to go the Egypt and hide there amongst the Egyptians. Because the Israelite in that time were Very Dark (black like Denzel) they would blend in with the Egyptians and would not be found. Only the the Egyptians would know the if you were a Israelite or Egyptian. See Matthew :13-15

See also Deut. 28:15-68 Black Israelites as slaves that were transferred with ships to the caribean and Americas. If they were black, Hispanic and Native Indian and the the only slaves transferred with ships, who are the ones in Israel…Khazars and or Ashkenaz…descendants of Jafet. Black slaves are descendents of Sem/ Shem.

Answer 3

Rev 1:14 His head and hair were white like wool--white as snow, His eyes like a fiery flame,
Rev 1:15 His feet like fine bronze fired in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of cascading waters.

I don't see how anyone could construe any portion of this scripture to reflect the pigmentation of Jesus' skin.

Answer 4

well no... the picture in Revelation if Jesus in heaven and conveys pictures portraying aspects of his character...

Jesus was likely olive skinned not very dark or very light... but truthfully ... we dont know

In revalation his feet would burnished bronz like out of a furnace, and walking thru the churches and the picture is one of strength and refined by the fire perhaps a glowing hot metal and the part of Jesus walking thru the churches is glowing hot feet doing the walking

Jesus has been mistakenly portrayed too much as the blue eyed european and now they are mistakenly portraying him as the dark skinned african... truthfully ... there is no description of Him in his physical body on earth except that He had a beard and its probably best to leave it at that

superficially focussing on the color of Jesus skin or the shape of his eye missed the forest for the trees, that doesnt matter anyway

Answer 5

Statements like this should not really factor into what we believe about God However, I will address it for the sake analysis.

Nothing in that particular citation from Revelation's would indicate that Jesus was black or had close ancestral ties to blacks. Lets parse the verses that have been so loosely interpreted by black pundits.

1. “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow”

The texture of wool doesn’t necessarily mean the small curls that are commonly associated with a black person’s hair. After all, many white men have curly hair that is thick enough to be likened to wool. Look at the hair of many orthodox Jews today and you will notice this. Also notice his head AND hair were WHITE, AS WHITE AS SNOW. The fact that his head is described as white, along with his hair, is conveniently ignored. After all, if the white color describes both his head and his hair, then he obviously leaned more to the fairer complexion than dark. I never hear of a black man’s skin color being described as white as snow, but his head is described as being white as snow. Secondly the fact that his hair is white, either indicates that he prematurely grayed, since he was a young man, at age 33, or that it is the closest that the author could come to saying he was blond. Another characteristic that belies any notion that he was black.

2.“…and His eyes like a flame of fire”

Eyes that are compared to fire can hardly resemble that of a black man’s eyes, which normally has a dark iris. However, a person with hazel, blue, or green eye color; which is the color most commonly found in whites (though it can be found in rare cases in other races), is the color that can give a reflective illusion of fire.


3.“His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace”

At the most this particular phrase underscores that he has tanned feet, with a reddish hue as indicated by the “refined in a furnace” segment of the sentence. Still this can refer to a white man o because when many Caucasians tan, many develop a reddish hue. He was an itinerant preacher, so his travels would have caused him to tan. Also brass is more akin to the color of Middle Eastern men, not the darkness of skin you commonly associate with African people.


4.“…and His voice as the sound of many waters;”

This last piece of the verse gives no physical description of the man, and therefore has no relevance to the issue we are discussing.


With my dissection of the above verses, so often quoted by black historical revisionists, it should be clear that these verse in no way intends to describe Jesus as a black man. If anything the description comports well with the physical makeup of the Semitic people and those who intermixed with European invaders; a thing common after the hellenization of the Middle East by Alexander the Great. And given the fact that nothing within Jesus’ lineage from both Biblical and non Canonical sources indicates much African intermingling - with the closest thing being Jewish enslavement in Egypt – it should be clear that Jesus can hardly be described as a black man. Unlike today, Jewish people in the past, even in exile where fairly adamant about practicing endogamy – marrying only within ones own ethnicity.

It should also be noted that Revelation is a book in the bible that is rife with metaphor and symbolism. Given this, most physical descriptions contained within its pages are not intended to be taken literally. In fact of all the books of the Bible, there is a consensus among most theologians, that Revelations is the least literal. One must take physical descriptions to be figurative, in that they illuminate some greater spiritual truth.

Finally, and most importantly it should be stated that it does not matter what Jesus looked like or whether he was white, black, or brown. What matters is that he died for the sins of the world, and he is our savior. We should follow his example, and stop using him as a poster boy to advocate pride in a particular group of people. After all, he came from a people that were vehemently against the inclusion of foreigners into their fold, and yet he and his disciples moved beyond these trivial trappings to create the most universal and inclusive faith in the world. Lets emulate that inclusiveness.

Answer 6

Proof Jesus Was Black

Answer 7

the Jesus of the NT, whether, Gospel, epistle or book of Revelation is a product of the imagination of various unknown authors who created this symbol of Christian religion patterned after the various popular pagan religions that were then popular among the various peoples of the middle east during that era. As a product of imagination, Jesus can be what ever you wish to configure him to be. The simple truth is, a Fictional character is still a fiction. Sincerely

Answer 8

Revelation refers to the resurrected Jesus. God promises that we will have heavenly bodies and will no longer have this form. So I don't think John's description in Revelation has any comparison to race as we know it. The human form of Jesus was as a Nazarene. I would imagine he looked like anyone else from that region, dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes.

Answer 9

I don't normally get involved in too many religious questions. Most of religion is faith, so believe what you please! Having said that, I think Jesus is Brown!

I say that because of where Jesus is born. Look at the people there now, and you will see the skin of Jesus!

GOD, in my opinion is a spirit, neither man or women, white brown or black, but all.

There, Sorry if I offended anyone.

Answer 10

I think Jesus is in the likeness to whom the individuals choose to indentify him as. However let's not be foolish, moses was in Egypt was is a country on the continent of Africa. The birth and death of Christ took place on the continent of Africa. It is silly to assume that with a description of coppery or bronze skin and thick wooley hair that there are referring to a person of non color. Also in regards to the hair being white, did anyone stop to think it was gray hair? In all of images of Christ depicted in the western world there is never a person of color!!! An accident??? Hardly!