An established way or rule (often unwritten) of behaviour, either for an individual or in a society.
Examples of the customs of individuals
1 Samuel 27:11; Job 1:5; Mark 10:1; Luke 4:16; Acts 17:2
Examples of group customs
1 Samuel 2:13; 1 Kings 18:28; Luke 1:9; Acts 16:20–21
Examples of social customs
Genesis 29:26 The older daughter is married before the younger; Judges 8:24 The Ishmaelites wore gold ear-rings; Judges 14:10 wedding feasts; Ruth 4:7 exchanging sandals as symbol of closing deals; 1 Samuel 20:25; 2 Kings 11:14; Esther 1:13; Ezekiel 24:17, Ezekiel 24:22; Matthew 27:15 parallels Mark 15:6, John 18:39 release of prisoners at Passover; Luke 2:27, Luke 2:42; John 19:40 burial customs; Acts 25:16 Roman legal customs
A custom can commemorate a particular event
God's people are not to follow improper customs
Leviticus 18:30 See also Leviticus 20:23; 2 Kings 17:7–8, 2 Kings 17:19, 2 Kings 17:33, 2 Kings 17:40–41; Esther 3:8; Psalm 106:34–35, Psalm 106:40–41; Jeremiah 10:2–3
You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”
The issue of whether or not Gentile Christians should follow Jewish customs
Galatians 2:14–16 See also Acts 6:11–14, Acts 15:1–2, Acts 15:28–29, Acts 21:21, Acts 21:24, Acts 28:17; Galatians 4:9–10; Colossians 2:8
When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile “sinners” know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.