What the Shroud of Turin Suggests About His Height

“They have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me.”
—Psalm 22:16–17 (ESV)

In a compelling interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, my friend Dr. Jeremiah Johnston was asked a pointed question: Does the image on the Shroud of Turin suggest that Jesus was a giant compared to the average Jew of His time?¹ Jeremiah gave a thoughtful and well-informed answer, one I highly recommend others watch in full. His response helped bring to light a fascinating topic that is both anthropological and theological.

That moment sparked renewed interest for me—especially given my own background. I’ve spent years researching the Shroud of Turin, and my postgraduate work at the Israel Bible Center has focused on Jewish customs and cultural practices during the late Second Temple period. The question Piers asked is more than sensational—it touches on deep historical and anthropological insights:

• Was Jesus really that tall?
• Was the Shroud image distorted by cloth movement, crucifixion posture, or other physical factors?
• And if the Shroud is authentic, what does it actually reveal about Jesus’ stature compared to His 1st-century contemporaries?

This blog explores those questions by examining:

• The average height of Jewish males in 1st-century Roman Judea
• Whether cloth distortion, trauma, or crucifixion posture could have altered the image
• What this means if the Shroud is authentic

The conclusion is both surprising and deeply meaningful: if the Shroud does indeed belong to Jesus, it reflects a man who was above average in height, but not abnormally tall—perfectly human, perfectly historical, and yet, as Christians believe, far more than a man.

1. What Was the Average Height in First-Century Judea?

Today’s global average male height is around 5’7″ to 5’9″, but 2,000 years ago, nutrition, disease, and living conditions significantly affected stature.

Osteological studies conducted on skeletal remains from Second Temple period tombs around Jerusalem give us our best estimate of the average height for Jewish males living during Jesus’ time.

• Dr. Israel Hershkovitz, a forensic anthropologist and professor at Tel Aviv University, has studied hundreds of skeletons from ancient Jewish tombs. His findings suggest that the average male height in Roman-era Judea was about 167 cm (5’6”).²
• Rachel Hachlili, a prominent archaeologist specializing in Jewish burial practices, corroborates this estimate in her book Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices and Rites in the Second Temple Period, noting an average height of 165–170 cm (5’5”–5’7”).³
• Joe Zias, former curator of anthropology for the Israel Antiquities Authority, states plainly:”Skeletal remains from that period show Jewish males averaged about 5’5” tall.”⁴
• Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar and archaeologist, notes that men during Jesus’ time were “generally around 5’5” to 5’6”.”⁵

Summary Table:

Source	Estimate
Hershkovitz	~5’6” (167 cm)
Hachlili	5’5”–5’7” (165–170 cm)
Zias	~5’5” (165 cm)
Pfann	5’5”–5’6” (165–167 cm)

This means a man standing 5’10” would have been above average, but not freakishly tall.

2. The Shroud Image: 5’10” and Its Challenges

When measured directly from head to heel, the man in the Shroud appears to be around 178 cm (5’10”) tall.⁶ This estimate is based on the image’s proportions as preserved on the 14-foot-long linen cloth.

However, several important caveats must be considered:

Cloth Stretching and Distortion

Linen is not a static surface—over centuries, it can stretch or shrink depending on humidity, heat, rolling, and handling. The Shroud has:

• Survived at least two major fires (1532 and again in 1997)
• Been folded and displayed countless times
• Undergone patchwork and reinforcement

These factors may have slightly lengthened the image, particularly in the vertical direction.

Non-Contact Image Formation

Modern research—including the STURP team’s 1978 investigation—suggests the image is not the result of direct contact but may have been formed by radiation, light, or another non-mechanical phenomenon.⁷

“There is no image beneath the surface of the fibers… it’s as if the image were lightly airbrushed on.”
—Raymond N. Rogers, STURP chemist⁸

This projection-like feature results in a “flattened” image, where the contours of the body are recorded in relation to the cloth’s distance from the skin—effectively encoding 3D information. In some areas (e.g., feet or hands), this may result in elongation or distortion.

3. Could Trauma or Death Elongate the Body?

Medical experts confirm that under extreme trauma—such as crucifixion—a person’s body may appear temporarily elongated after death. Several well-documented physiological phenomena support this:

Spinal Decompression After Death

When the body is no longer bearing weight, the intervertebral discs decompress, allowing the spine to extend by up to an inch.

• Dr. William Maples, a leading forensic anthropologist, explains that cadavers often appear taller than they were in life due to this post-mortem elongation.⁹

Joint Dislocation from Crucifixion

• Dr. Pierre Barbet, a French surgeon who studied the mechanics of crucifixion, noted that shoulder dislocations were common and would visually lengthen the arms.¹⁰

Rigor Mortis and Extended Posture

• Rigor mortis can “lock” the body in an extended position, especially if the arms and legs were stretched on a cross.

An Astronaut Parallel

Even in living individuals, changes in force on the body can elongate height. NASA’s twin study showed that astronaut Scott Kelly became about 2 inches taller than his identical twin while in space, due to spinal decompression in zero gravity.¹¹

While space travel is vastly different from crucifixion, it illustrates a key point: the human body’s height can shift under different physical conditions—temporarily, and measurably.

4. How Tall Was Jesus Likely to Be?

Bringing together these strands, we can offer a range rather than an absolute figure.

• If the Shroud’s image is perfectly accurate and free of distortion (unlikely), Jesus could have been 5’10”.
• If image elongation is responsible for 1–2 inches, He may have stood 5’8”–5’9”.
• If trauma added visual length, the true height could even be closer to 5’7”.

Comparative Table

Category	Height Estimate
1st-Century Jewish Male (avg.)	5’5”–5’7”
Man on the Shroud (apparent)	5’10”
Jesus (realistic adjusted)	5’7”–5’10”

That would make Him taller than the average Jewish male of His time by 2–5 inches, but not extraordinarily so.

5. Why This Matters

You might ask: Why does Jesus’ height matter? It’s not about vanity or superficial detail. It matters because it speaks to the historicity and humanity of Jesus.

Christianity claims that God became man. He walked dusty roads, worked with His hands, suffered, and died a real death. The Shroud—if genuine—is a powerful affirmation of this incarnational truth.

And within that image, we see a man who fits precisely within the framework of 1st-century Jewish life:

• His burial follows Jewish customs
• His wounds reflect Roman crucifixion methods
• His body shows signs of having actually endured death

That he may have been a few inches taller than average is a minor yet meaningful detail. It underscores that Jesus was not a mythical being—He was a flesh-and-blood man who stood out not because of height, but because of who He was.

6. Final Thoughts: More Than a Measurement

The Shroud of Turin continues to raise compelling questions. Among them is this quiet but fascinating one: How tall was the man of the Shroud?

We now know:

• The average Jewish male in Jesus’ time stood around 5’5″ to 5’7″
• The man on the Shroud appears to be around 5’10”, though that includes probable distortion
• Adjusted for trauma and cloth effects, Jesus’ likely height falls between 5’7″–5’10”
• This makes Him above average, but not unusually tall—consistent with a real Jewish man from Galilee, crucified under Pontius Pilate

But the most important thing we learn is this: God didn’t send a myth. He sent a man. And that man was tall enough to carry a cross, but humble enough to kneel and wash feet. His height may reflect strength, but His posture reveals grace.

The Shroud doesn’t just show us how tall Jesus might have been—it shows us how far He was willing to go to save us.

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Footnotes

1. Piers Morgan Uncensored, “Piers Morgan Interviews Dr. Jeremiah Johnston on the Shroud of Turin,” YouTube video, 11:26, posted by Piers Morgan Uncensored, April 2024, https://youtu.be/uR_Tx3s7SIc?si=190mfUFQqJhQtvsz.
2. Israel Hershkovitz, “Osteological Analysis of the Human Remains from the Tombs of the Second Temple Period,” Israel Exploration Journal 42 (1992): 107–118.
3. Rachel Hachlili, Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices and Rites in the Second Temple Period (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 128.
4. Joe Zias, “Human Skeletal Remains from the Second Temple Period in Jerusalem,” The Biblical Archaeologist53, no. 3 (1990): 134–140.
5. Stephen Pfann, comments in The Real Face of Jesus? (History Channel documentary, 2010).
6. Giulio Fanti and Pierandrea Malfi, The Shroud of Turin: First Century after Christ! (Singapore: World Scientific, 2015), 54–58.
7. John P. Jackson et al., “Scientific Investigation of the Shroud of Turin,” Journal of Applied Optics 19, no. 6 (1978): 1–17.
8. Raymond N. Rogers, quoted in The Shroud of Turin: An Intriguing Mystery (STURP archive), 1978.
9. William R. Maples and Michael Browning, Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist (New York: Broadway Books, 1994), 45–47.
10. Pierre Barbet, A Doctor at Calvary: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ As Described by a Surgeon (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1953), 87–95.
11. NASA Human Research Program, “Twins Study Confirms Preliminary Findings,” NASA.gov, April 2019, https://www.nasa.gov/twins-study.