Physical Attractiveness in the Bible: Is Physical Beauty Relevant?
Bible does not shy away from talking about and emphasizing physical attractiveness or beauty. A deep scanning of the Bible from the first book, Genesis, to the last one, Revelation, entails some important biblical figures and their take on physical attractiveness. Starting with Genesis, when God presents Eve to Adam, he (Adam) is easily attracted to the physical likeness of the woman. In his words, Adam confesses: This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man (Genesis 2:23). In the same book, Abram calls his wife ‘beautiful‘ to look at, exactly implying the physical attractiveness of Sarai (Genesis 12:11, 14, 15).
In Genesis 24:16, Isaac’s servant describes Rebekah as ‘damsel‘ (young unmarried woman) and ‘pretty‘. Of course, there is no doubt that the beauty talked of here includes inner beauty or character. And yet this same beauty talked of doesn’t exclude the physical attractiveness
Genesis 39:6 calls Joseph ‘well built‘ and ‘handsome‘ (Devotional Bible). King James version says he was ‘goodly’ and ‘well-favored’. In 1 Samuel 9:2, Saul is described as a ‘fine young man who stood head taller and was better than other men in the land‘.
Again, beauty here includes the inner beauty and reverence for God. And yet doesn’t exclude the fact that they (Joseph and Saul) were physically taller and good looking guys! David is referred to as young, tanned (brown), and handsome (1 Samuel 16:12; 17:42). By the way, I don’t remember anywhere the Bible attributes the physical quality of tallness as a beauty feature for women. Remind me.
In the same book, Abigail, the wife of the foolish and cruel man, Nabal, is regarded as wise and beautiful (1 Samuel 25:3). When David noticed Bathsheba while she was bathing, he saw ‘physical beauty‘ in or on her! (2 Samuel 11:2).
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King Solomon’s book, Song of Solomon, is full of melodies and descriptions of physical attractiveness and beauty of both men and women.
For example, in Chapter 4, the beauty of a woman is described like this: ‘Your breasts are like two fawns. Your Lips are like red silk threads. Your teeth are white like newly sheared sheep. Your eyes are like doves. And your hair like a flock of goats streaming down mount Gilead‘. In the same book, Chapter 5:10, man’s handsomeness is described as follows: ‘My lover is healthy and tan. His head is like the finest gold. His hair is wavy and black. His eyes are like doves. His cheeks are like beds of spices. His hands, his lips, his legs, his body are all wonderfully beautiful’ (verse 10-15; a little paraphrased). And, listen to this one, his mouth is sweet to kiss and I desire him very much (verse 16).
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Interpreting Physical Attractiveness in Bible
Importantly, we need to note that, in almost all the above verses, God isn’t the one saying or describing those men and women as beautiful, pretty, and with good figure and face or even big bums and hips!
Yes, the whole Bible is God’s inspired word. But, in some cases (for example, these ones), God is simply telling us what men did or didn’t do or thought! And sometimes, He is standing beside such stories without approving or disapproving them!
For example, when Adam confesses that Eve is awesomely fit for him, God doesn’t say No or Yes. Even for Esther, Abraham’s wife, Sarai, Job’s daughters or even Saul in his young age, the authors of the books are the ones using the words to describe their characters and not necessarily God! And yet all of this doesn’t mean it isn’t God speaking! All God’s word is His inspired word! So, what does it mean?
To properly interpret the emphasis on physical beauty by Bible, especially in the Old Testament, we will look at how New Testament preachers interpreted such verses!
For example, 1 Peter 3:3-4 says that ‘it is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine cloths that should make you beautiful. No, your beauty should come from within you – the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit that will never be destroyed and is very precious to God! In other words, while we as men can be driven by physical beauty, what counts most is the inner beauty. And it is this inner beauty that means a lot to God.
Indeed, God had made this whole observation in relation to Eliab, David and or any other person’s outside physical appearance:
‘Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart‘ (1 Samuel 16:7). These are words directly from God! God knows very well that we look on the outside and get convinced, but He looks further than that!
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He (God) doesn’t say that considering the outside beauty is bad or irrelevant; He (God) simply says that it doesn’t concern him like the inside beauty does. Therefore, Peter goes ahead and instructs: ‘For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening’ (1 Peter 3:5-6). In other words, going back to Sarah and her beauty, Peter is saying that she wasn’t just beautiful on the outside, but beautiful in the way that she was submissive to her husband and, of course, to God. This is the true beauty that God celebrates or cherishes.