The only complexions mentioned in the bible are white and black, both in Song of Solomon. Since whites don't become black from the sun, but tan, it is clear they are the only two races mentioned by color. So, why so sure Jesus was not black?
2007-09-20 06:29:50 · 21 answers · asked by Capri 1230 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
People of all colors are in the Bible, The 12 Tribes encompasses all races.
2007-09-20 06:34:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
There are quite a few theories concerning race and ethnicity as they relate to the Bible.
Genesis 10 says that after the flood, the three sons of Noah became ancestors of specific enthnicities and nationalities of the earth. I believe it's thought that Ham was the father of Africans (black people) and certain Western Asians, including the Canaanites; Japheth was the father of Europeans, that is, white people; and Shem is the father of the Hebrews, the Arabs, and I'd assume, the vast majority of Asian. From that, I'd assume that Native Americans and Pacific Islanders also come from Shem. (Of course, the writers of the Bible knew nothing of Native Americans nor Pacific Islanders.)
I don't know where the Bible mentions whiteness as a race. I personally believe that the original Israelites, including Jesus, were definitely not white, but brown, and possibly black or part-black. White people, of course, come in later in the Bible with the Greeks mentioned in the later Old Testament, and the Greeks, Romans, and other Europeans in the New Testament.
Some OT and NT characters would be most likely, or definitely, African or Black. There's the Ethiopian whom Philip teaches in the book of Acts. There's the Cushite woman Moses had married, mentioned in Numbers 12. (I don't know if this is the same woman as Zipporah the Midianite, whom Moses married in Exodus 2. Then there are all those Egyptians in Genesis, Exodus, and other books. They had to be black or brown. The Queen of Sheba was probably black.
Any Christian who thinks there are no blacks in the Bible isn't taking into account geography (Israel is right across the sea from Africa!), or even what the Bible itself says.
2007-09-20 06:47:20 · answer #2 · answered by MNL_1221 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why are we sure that Jesus was not black??? Because of the geographical area he was coming from (ie where he was born is not necessarily native to blacks). He was just a little too shy north of AFRICA. Some people argue that Moses was possible black... I think he was obviously African but not sure if he was "BLACK". Many Egyptians are dark skinned but don't naturally have the "AFRICAN" features many of associate with blacks today. Most likely he (Jesus and/or Moses) was "brown" or tan, NOT white (when people say WHITE i'm thinking like pink/peach and european). But blacks ARE mentioned in the bible. I think most peope in the bible were either tan or black because of where so many of the stories take place. I don't think there were too many blonde blue eyed people walking around Jerusalem back in the day.
2007-09-20 07:17:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Im Christian and Black and I believe there are black people in the Bible. It might shock some but I believe Jesus was black or at least darker than what today society portrays Him. Just the description of Him in the Bible is enough, because I dont know two many white people with skin like leather and hair as coarse as wool. But hey thats the world that we live in and we can only believe what we believe and try to share it with others.
2007-09-20 06:40:18 · answer #4 · answered by Spoiled Rotten 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
not that this matters one iota...but there is evidence in the bible that Jesus was dark skinned. The fact that his parents 'hid' him from King Herod in Egypt...was a hint. You cant hide in a dark skinned country if you are blue eyed, pale skinned with long straight hair.
Second of all, when Paul was arrested in the temple he spoke to the commander of the jail asking "may I speak with you?" The commaner replied, “Can you speak Greek? Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?” -this clearly implies that based on his appearance the prison commander mistook him for some rogue egyptian outlaw based on his dark skin and certainly didnt presume Paul could speak Greek because he didnt LOOK like a greek.
But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.”
The people of the bible...were dark in hue..not 'tan'...dark.
2007-09-20 06:47:33 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are bigots. They don't realize there were no whites in that part of the world. They cannot even conceive of the idea that Jesus wasn't white. Maybe they think that is what made him stand out. He was the only 'white' person in an entire nation and area of the world where there were no truly 'white' people. In my opinion, they either never studied history, or ignored historical facts and replaced them in their minds with the rationalization that they are white, therefore Jesus had to be white. They are always right, so everyone else is always wrong.
2007-09-20 06:36:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
JESUS HAD TO BE DARK! We're talking about being outdoors in Israel for 30 something years. I dislike popular depictions of Jesus looking European. As a Jew who believes in Jesus (Y'shua), I think Christians make huge errors in drawing Him white.
2007-09-20 06:44:03 · answer #7 · answered by Sarah B 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jesus would have been Arab looking, like nearly everyone else in the area at the time. There were virtually no light skinned people in the area at the time and only a few we would consider black. In the Christian scriptures it says Jesus did not stand out physically, so he would have looked Arab, a lot like someone who might make you nervous if you shared a plane today.
2007-09-20 06:36:10 · answer #8 · answered by Jett 4 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Who CARES either way? Well, obviously YOU care.
Too many people get hung up on the "small stuff" and lose sight of the REAL issues (the most important one being the salvation of the eternal soul thru the covenant of the New Testament).
Answer: Not sure. Don't care.
2007-09-20 06:42:29 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because the author's of the bible where white... And Christians as a whole refuse to give creedence to the idea that the possibility that Jesus (or anyone else in the bible) could have been Black....It is another one of christianitys sanctimonious refusel's to admit that the very religion that they believe is full of lies.
2007-09-20 06:40:19 · answer #10 · answered by Jennifer 3 · 1⤊ 3⤋