What Did New Testament Hebrew Israelites Look Like?
Acts 21:37-38 states that Paul, (Shaul in Hebrew) the apostle, was being led into a castle by a chief captain. Paul spoke to the chief in Greek, asking permission to speak with him. The chief captain was surprised that Paul could speak Greek and in Verse 38, asks Paul, "Are not you that EGYPTIAN?" Paul responded, (Verse 39) "I am a man of Israel (Hebrew)."
In order for this chief captain to mistake Paul (the Hebrew) for a black-skinned Egyptian, Paul had to look like an Egyptian, as scripture tells us the whole nation of Israel did. This is why in the book of Matthew 2:13, the angel of Yah told Joseph to arise and take the young child Yahshua, (The Messiah’s true Hebrew name is Yahshua) and his mother Mary (Miriam in Hebrew) and FLEE INTO EGYPT. He was told to stay there until he received further instruction, because Herod would seek the young child to destroy him.
Joseph, Miriam and Yahshua were told to flee into Egypt, (Africa) not for military protection, because during this time, Egypt was a Roman province under Roman control. They fled into Egypt because Egypt was still a "black" country, populated by a majority of black-skinned people (Egyptians). Joseph, Miriam and Yahshua would have been just another black-skinned family among many. Remember, they fled into Egypt to HIDE from Herod who was seeking to kill Yahshua.
If Yahshua and the rest of the Hebrews looked like those pictures of the "Christian Christ", it would have been hard for him to hide in Egypt and not be noticed. NOTE: the above fact about Yahshua hiding in Egypt was attested to by a biblical scholar on a BBC produced program last year (2001).
The Program was called 'THE COMPLETE JESUS'. The scholar stated that it would have been hard for Yahshua to hide among the Egyptians, if he didn’t look like the Egyptians, he was saying that Yahshua could not have been white skinned. He admitted in the program that Yahshua was a dark /black-skinned man.
Now back to our lesson.
He also made mention that the Israelites of the first to third centuries wore their hair in Afro's. This is only the tip of the iceberg, you can't hold down the truth.
Herod was put on the throne of Israel by the Romans, and Egypt was under Roman dominion. All Herod had to do was check with the Roman officials in Egypt to find out if there were any Hebrews with baby boys around. But, since the Hebrews and the Egyptians looked the same physically, it would have been hard to single out a Hebrew family among the Egyptians.
When Joseph, Miriam and Yahshua fled into Egypt, they were among people who look like the couple in the above picture. As was mentioned, the ancient Egyptians were the descendants of Noah's son, Khawm, or Ham in English. Khawm means black, hot and burnt. The ancient Egyptians of biblical times called their land and themselves Khemet, which in their tongue means "THE LAND OF BLACKS." The word Khemet is nothing but a variation on the word Khawm in the language of ancient Egypt.
In Psalm 78:51, Egypt is called "The House of Ham (Khawm)."
"...AND SMOTE ALL THE FIRSTBORN IN EGYPT; THE TABERNACLES (HOUSE) OF HAM (KHAWM)."
Psalm 105:23,27 calls Egypt the land of Khawm (Ham),
Verse 23 "ISRAEL ALSO CAME INTO EGYPT; AND SOJOURNED IN THE LAND OF HAM (KHAWM)."
Verse 27 "THEY SHOWED HIS SIGNS AMONG THEM, AND WONDERS IN THE LAND OF HAM (KHAWM)."
The Bible calls Egypt the land of Khawm, and remember one of the meanings of Khawm is black, so The Bible is calling Egypt "The Land of Black" which is what Khemet means. Egypt is called the land of Khawm because the Egyptians were descendants of Noah's son Khawm. This is more than likely the reason they called themselves Khemet. The Bible supports the fact that the Egyptians were a black-skinned people.
