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Paul writes, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair (Greek *komao* tresses of long hair), it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God" (I Corinthians 11:14 KJV).

History shows that the style of Christ's day was the Roman haircut, similar to the conservative haircut of today. The Jews followed the custom as Paul, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, attests in scripture.

Individuals in the Old Testament and New Testament that wore their hair long were those taking Nazarite vows. A Nazarite vow lasted a relatively short period of time with the exception of Samson who was commanded by God to keep his hair. Nazarites should not to be confused with Nazarenes, people from region surrounding the city of Nazareth. Yes, that point tends to confuse much like the number of different people named Joseph, John, Abimilech, and Hadad tends to confuse. Anyway, men wore their hair short. Assyrian reliefs show tribute paying Israelites wearing short hair, much like the Roman cut.

BTW, Absalom wore his hair long and it was noted that he fancied himself highly. The Bible also shows the dangers of long hair in battle as Absalom was clotheslined by his beautiful tresses stuck in the tree. The Bible is filled with examples of this type of subtle yet stinging sense of irony. Today, they call this dark comedy.

Back to Jesus. Christ blended in the crowd throughout the gospels. If Christ looked like the hippie pretty boy pictured by artists, He would have stuck out like a sore thumb: "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2 KJV). It was Christ's words and deeds that made him stand apart, not His looks. Remember, Judas had to kiss Jesus to point him out to the other guys. I imagine the officers saying, "This the guy? Thanks Judas."

Hope that helps clarify my comments.

Interesting...

Have you seen the movie?

I thought Paul was speaking primarily to the Gentiles (specifically a Gentile church) about hair length and head coverings for women during worship. Additionally, Romans tended to wear their hair even shorter than folks in Palestine(I am looking for the historical references for this in and aming my office), so I am not sure that the it can be stated that Jews in the Palestine area wore their hair in the style of a Roman haircut, if by style we mean hair as short as the Romans.

It seems reasonable from reading Scripture that the hair length of Jesus was probably longer than a short haircut and shorter than is often depicted.

Will do some more research in Scripture on this.