How Tall Was Jesus Christ in the Bible

In medieval times, people believed they could connect with Jesus by measuring his height. A special manuscript from Florence showed a red line said to represent part of Jesus’s body. Readers were told to cut a string to match the line and then multiply it 12 times. 

This would give the full height of Jesus and offer spiritual protection. These measurements, called mensura Christi, were believed to keep people safe from harm, like fire, storms, or even the devil. 

Pregnant women who wore them were said to be protected during childbirth. Some people even wore tiny pieces of string or rope, cut to match Jesus’s body parts, as jewelry. Based on these measurements, Jesus was believed to be about 6 feet tall (1.82 meters). 

However, modern scholars think he was likely shorter, around 5 foot 5 inches (1.68 meters). Still, the act of measuring him brought people comfort, faith, and a sense of divine presence.

But while medieval Christians sought to know Jesus through measurements and relics, the Bible itself says nothing about his height. In fact, height is rarely mentioned in Scripture at all. Only a few figures like Saul, Goliath, and Zacchaeus are described in this way.

The only physical description of Jesus comes from Isaiah 53:2, which tells us “he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” In other words, Jesus looked ordinary.

So, how tall was he really? Most scholars agree he was likely the average height for a Jewish man in first-century Israel, between 5' and 5'5" (152–165 cm). 

Though taller depictions became popular over time, Jesus’s physical height had no bearing on the depth of his message or the power of his presence. We must realize that it is no accident that his height is not a direct answer and it is not clearly depicted in the Bible.

Had Jesus’ appearance had a bearing on his importance to us, we would have been given the information directly from Scripture. 

While looking for answers such as this one is normal and it shows that we want to know Him better, in the end, we’ll never find a singular correct answer about Jesus’ weight and height because His physical form was never important compared to his role in our lives.

How Tall Was Paul in the Bible

There is no official record in the Bible that tells us how tall Paul was. But one early Christian story, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, gives us a rare description of the Apostle. According to this text, Paul was “a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows that met and a hooked nose.” 

At first, this might sound unflattering by today’s standards, but in ancient Greek culture, these traits weren’t necessarily seen as bad. In fact, some of these features were linked to strength, intelligence, and leadership.

Paul’s small size isn’t unusual either. People in the first century were generally shorter than today. So while we can’t say for sure, it’s likely that Paul was below average in height by modern standards, possibly around 5 feet tall.

Other sources add to the picture of Paul as a physically unimpressive man. One chapter from A Disabled Apostle even suggests it’s possible that Paul was a person with dwarfism. It points to his escape story in 2 Corinthians, where he says he was lowered down a wall in a basket. 

Based on historical evidence, the author estimates that the kind of basket Paul describes would have been too small to hold an average-sized adult. This detail supports the idea that Paul may have been significantly shorter than most people, even in his own time.

How Tall Is God?

The question “How tall is God?” is both fascinating and complex because it brings human language and imagination into conversation with a divine being who, according to most religious traditions, is not bound by human limitations such as height, size, or physical form.

Jesus says, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24) in the New Testament. This highlights the incorporeal character of God, showing that he is not a physical being with quantifiable qualities. 

When God spoke to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, the Old Testament describes it as follows: "You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice" (Deuteronomy 4:12). The idea that God does not have a physical form that is visible to people is reinforced by this text. 

Although humans are fashioned in God's image according to Genesis 1:26, this refers to spiritual, moral, or intellectual attributes rather than physical similarity. Symbolic language is frequently used in divine visions in prophetic literature. 

Ezekiel, for example, tells of seeing "a figure like that of a man" sitting on a throne in a vision (Ezekiel 1:26). Usually interpreted as figurative, these descriptions portray facets of God's nature rather than his visible attributes. 

In philosophy, God is frequently thought of as an eternal, infinite being that transcends time and space. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, God is regarded as "wholly immaterial" and "unchanging" in classical theism. 

Therefore, it is contradictory to the theological understanding of God's nature to attribute a particular height to God. God exists outside of human conceptions of size and shape, transcending the physical realm. ​

How Tall Was the Cross

We must admit that, historically, we lack the measurements of the cross that was used in Jesus' crucifixion. In their profound insight, the Gospels concentrate on the significance of Christ's sacrifice rather than such details. However, we can make some informed guesses based on historical records of Roman crucifixion practices and archaeological evidence.

A Roman cross would normally have had a horizontal beam (patibulum) that was roughly 6 feet long and a vertical beam (stipes) that was 7 to 9 feet tall. When assembled, the entire structure may have been between 10 and 15 feet high. Let's also think about the spiritual meaning of this cross, though.

Consider how the cross's vertical beam extends from the ground to the sky, signifying the peace that Christ brought about between God and humans. The horizontal beam embraces all people in God's love, reaching out like Christ's arms. In this sense, God's plan of salvation makes the cross a universal symbol that encompasses all of creation.

How Tall Was Zacchaeus

The Bible states in Luke 19:3 that Zacchaeus “was short in stature,” but it does not specify exactly how tall he was. The Greek phrase used is hēlikia mikros, which simply means “small in height.” 

While many readers take this to mean Zacchaeus was just a little shorter than average, some scholars, like Mikeal Parsons, have suggested that the language could imply something more, possibly even pathological dwarfism. 

Historical physiognomic literature from the Greco-Roman world often associated physical smallness with moral smallness or inferiority, but the Gospel of Luke subverts that idea by portraying Zacchaeus as someone of great spiritual openness and transformation.

Although there is no definitive measurement of Zacchaeus’s height, the assumption that he was unusually short (possibly under 4’10” by today’s standards, the medical threshold for dwarfism) has led to new ways of reading the story, especially from disability studies perspectives. 

These readings emphasize how Zacchaeus’s social position, physical stature, and public ridicule are key elements in understanding his encounter with Jesus. Rather than being a detail to overlook, Zacchaeus’s smallness challenges ableist assumptions and affirms that physical difference does not diminish one’s place in the story of salvation.

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Learning and growing never stop when you’re a Christian looking to deepen your faith, and The Bible Chat app is your own portable resource for anything God related. All you have to do is download the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Conclusion

Different sources will give you different answers about Jesus’ height, as well as the height of other important Biblical figures. There are some verses and stories in the Bible that give us an idea of how tall Jesus, Paul, and Zacchaeus were, but ultimately, it is all speculation.

When it comes to God, even attempting to assume His physical appearance is contrary to what He represents. He is all encompassing, everywhere, and in everything, and confining him to the attributes of a human body would be impossible.

While the height of these Biblical people is not something that influences their importance in faith, it can bring valuable information and an understanding of disabilities, as has been proven when talking about Paul and Zacchaeus. 

Many academic sources refer to these important figures when discussing dwarfism and ableism, using them as symbols of God’s love for everyone, regardless of their stature.

In the end, this is why even asking the most trivial of questions can lead to the most important of answers. God’s love is reflected in everything that surrounds us, and we might find teachings on understanding and acceptance where we least expect them.

References

• How tall was Jesus? Or, measurement and the making of the modern world., https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/how-tall-was-jesus-or-measurement, accessed on 22.04.2025;
• How tall was Jesus?, https://www.gotquestions.org/how-tall-was-Jesus.html, accessed on 22.04.2025;
• A Physical Description of Paul, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/harvard-theological-review/article/abs/physical-description-of-paul/7C201B8D1BEF841D5D256360EA4C0FA3, accessed 22.04.2025;
• Soon, Isaac T. 'A Short Apostle', A Disabled Apostle: Impairment and Disability in the Letters of Paul. Oxford, 2023; online edn, Oxford Academic, 24 Aug. 2023;
• Western Concepts of God, https://iep.utm.edu/god-west/, accessed on 22.04.2025;
• Body and character in luke and Acts: The subversion of physiognomy in Early Christianity, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289009315_Body_and_character_in_luke_and_Acts_The_subversion_of_physiognomy_in_Early_Christianity, accessed 22.04.2025;
• Zacchaeus: Short and Un-Seen, https://ifl.web.baylor.edu/sites/g/files/ecbvkj771/files/2022-12/DisabilityArticleYong.pdf, accessed 22.04.2025.

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