Did Jesus Wear a Kippah?

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Although priests wore a turban-like headdress, other Jews of the Second Temple period did not wear a headcovering.

It is certain that Jesus, a Jew residing in the land of Israel in the first century, did not wear a kippah (skullcap).

The custom of wearing a kippah arose in Babylonia between the third and fifth centuries C.E. among the non-Jewish residents—Jewish residents of Babylonia had not yet adopted this custom, as the Dura-Europos frescoes show—and passed from there to the Jewish community of Europe.

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For more on Jesus’ clothing and appearance, check out these JP articles:

◦ Marvin R. Wilson, “The Appearance of Jesus: Hairstyles and Beards in Bible Times”
◦ JP Staff Writer, “Tangled up in Techēlet: Tzitzit (Ritual Tassels) in the Time of Jesus”

To read more New Testament insights from professor Shmuel Safrai on Jerusalem Perspective, click here.

This article originally appeared in issue 36 of the Jerusalem Perspective magazine. Click on the image above to view a PDF of the original magazine article.

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  • Shmuel Safrai [1919-2003]

    Shmuel Safrai [1919-2003]

    Professor and Rabbi Shmuel Safrai died on July 16, 2003. He was buried the following day in a section of Jerusalem's Har ha-Menuhot Cemetery reserved for faculty of the Hebrew University. His grave is only a few feet from the grave of his close friend…
    [Read more about author]

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