15 Bible Verses About Cultural Practices

The myriad forms of human custom and practice constitute a landscape often bewildering to the soul. Yet, divine wisdom, unveiled in the sacred pages of scripture, offers the indispensable compass for traversing this terrain. By prayerfully engaging these inspired words, we gain the clarity to discern what truly serves the good and the true within our cultural expressions. Understanding these verses is not mere academic pursuit; it is essential for cultivating a life rooted in eternal verities, enabling us to bear witness to Christ amidst the complexities of human society.

Featured Verse

And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Seek Wisdom: Bible Verses on Culture

And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Genesis 16:3KJV

And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

Genesis 29:29KJV

And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.

Genesis 31:35KJV

Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.

Genesis 32:32KJV

And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

Genesis 30:4KJV

And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

Genesis 34:24KJV

And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

Genesis 19:31KJV

And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

Genesis 29:26KJV

If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

Exodus 22:17KJV

Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

Leviticus 19:27KJV

They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

Leviticus 21:5KJV

And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

Deuteronomy 21:13KJV

And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Judges 3:6KJV

And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

Judges 11:39KJV

And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth–lehem–judah.

Judges 19:1KJV

The sacred texts offer not a rigid code for every earthly custom, but rather principles to guide the discerning soul through the temporal landscape. As these verses illustrate, cultural practices are not inherently good or evil, but their value lies in their alignment with truth, charity, and the pursuit of holiness. The Christian life demands a thoughtful engagement with the world's manifold traditions, recognizing where they reflect genuine human dignity and where they may subtly obscure the divine light. Let us therefore approach the customs of our age with wisdom, rooted in the revealed Word, embracing that which elevates the spirit and contributing to a culture that ultimately serves the greater glory of God. The pursuit of virtue requires this constant vigilance, this careful sifting of the temporal through the lens of the eternal.