TITHE (מַעֲשֵׂר, H5130, pl. מַֽעַשְׂרﯴת׃֒ ; δεκάτη, Lat. decima). The tenth of produce or property for the support of the priesthood or for other religious objectives.
1. Principal passages. References to the tithe are found in both the OT and NT, but the main portions are incorporated in the Mosaic legislation. They are (1) Leviticus 27:30-33; (2) Numbers 18:21-32; and (3) Deuteronomy 12:5-18; 14:22-29.
2. Secular examples. Tithing was an ancient and general practice among other religions and cultures besides the Sem. Giving a portion of one’s labor or of the spoils of war was known among a number of nations in antiquity. In Egypt the people gave two tenths of their harvest to the Pharaoh (Gen 47:24; cf. among other nations: Syrians [1 Macc 10:31; 11:35]; Lydians [Herod. 1:89]; and Babylonians, M. Jastrow, The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria [1898], 668). Tithes were both political (tribute and taxation) and religious (connected with offerings). Ancient extra-Biblical use appears to be as a tax in kind imposed by a ruler on a subject people or his own countrymen. Whereas among foreign nations the political purpose for tithes predominated, in Israel it was the religious, that is, income dedicated to God.
3. Biblical tithes. Historically, tithing is found in Scripture in several time periods, namely, from pre-Mosaic times to the days of the early church.
a. Pre-Mosaic. The first mention of the tithe was when Abraham, returning from his victory over the invading Mesopotamian kings, gave Melchizedek, king-priest of Salem, a tenth of all (Gen 14:18-20). The tithe then given is explained in Hebrews 7:1ff. as indicating that the Melchizedek priesthood was superior to the Aaronic. Jacob, fleeing from Esau, promised this amount to God in the event God prospered him (Gen 28:22).
b. Mosaic. Clearly, it was in Mosaic times that tithing had its greatest emphasis. Under the law of Moses a tithe of the produce of the ground and of cattle was obligatory (Lev 27:30, 32). The tithe of fruit and grain could be redeemed by the owner by buying it at one-fifth above market value (27:31). This arrangement, however, was not allowed for the flock or herd. In such cases the tithe was taken by passing the cattle under the rod and removing every tenth animal, whether perfect or defective. There could be no exchange (vv. 32, 33). Until the tithe was offered to God, the crop was not to be used by men (23:14). The part given God could be at one time consumed on the altar; at another time only a portion of the tithe was consumed (vv. 9ff., 15ff.); the rest was granted to the priests and their families (Num 18:11).
Those who follow the Wellhausen system claim that between Deuteronomy and the Priestly Code (PC), which includes Leviticus and Numbers, no laws on tithing were given. The use of “tithe” twice in Ezekiel is admittedly in a nontechnical sense of “a tenth” (Ezek 45:11, 14). The Priestly Code provided that the tithe was to be exclusively for the Levites, who were to give a tenth to the priests (Num 18:20-23). In this code the tithe is connected with the heave offering. PC, like Deuteronomy, views the tithe as an agricultural offering, not of cattle (Lev 27:30, 31). This practice is verified in Nehemiah 10:37, 38; 12:44; 13:5, 12. One reference includes cattle in the tithe (Lev 27:32, 33), which is confirmed in 2 Chronicles 31:5-12.
The legislation in Numbers stipulated that grain must be threshed before it was tithed. The fruit of the vine and the olive were processed into wine and oil before a tithe was presented (Num 18:27). As stated above, the tithe was considered a heave offering and given to the Levites (vv. 21, 24). This was the return for their service at the sanctuary (v. 21) and because of their exclusion from a landed inheritance. The priest was given a tithe (Num 18:26), and the remainder was eaten elsewhere (v. 31).
Moses prescribed that all the required sacrifices, free-will offerings, and tithes were to be brought to the sanctuary in Jerusalem (Deut 12:5, 6, 11). All were to be eaten before the Lord (vv. 17, 18). If the distance to the sanctuary was great, the offering could be exchanged for money, then taken to the sanctuary, where the money could be used to buy what was needed for the meal (14:23-27). His purchase was eaten by the offerer, his household, and the Levites in Jerusalem. Every third year everyone’s tithe was to be stored in his own town, where the Levite, stranger, widow, and orphan could go for a supply (vv. 28, 29). After a third year tithe, the tenth was placed at the disposal of those mentioned in Deuteronomy 26:12. It is held by some that there were two third year tithes between sabbatic years, at which time there was no tithe.
The laws of Deuteronomy 14 appear to conflict with the regulations of Numbers 18:21ff. There it is enjoined that all the tithes be given the Levites, who pay a tithe of a tithe to the priests. Furthermore, Levites were allowed to eat the tithe where they wished, not just at the central sanctuary. The rabbis attempted to reconcile the apparent contradiction by assuming different kinds of tithes: a first tithe was given to the Levites and priests (Num 18:21ff.) a second tithe was eaten by the offerer with his family and guests in a feast at the sanctuary (Deut 14:22-27); and a third tithe, called the “poor’s tithe,” took the place of the second tithe in the third and sixth years of each sabbatical period (14:28, 29). The question has also arisen as to whether Deuteronomy has in view two separate tithes. It is not necessary to assume this. It was the same tithe but used differently in the third year. The aim of all tithing was to acknowledge that all man had belonged to God.
Scholars have debated whether there were two tithes or even three (see Jos. Antiq. IV. viii. 22). Modern studies hold that all the references are to the same tithe, explaining the differences as arising from the variations in time. The reasoning is that in the time of Deuteronomy (which the critical school dates to the 7th cent. b.c.), the tithe was used for a festal meal for the family, the poor, and the Levites. In the days of Numbers (which is said to be part of the PC dated to postexilic times), the tithe was employed solely for the support of the ministry of priests and Levites. The argumentation is not at all compelling, because it is more valid to hold that in the early Heb. theocracy reflected in Leviticus (Mosaic times), when the nation lived as nomads, festal meals were not feasible; thus the tithes were offered to the priests and Levites as the needy among the people. In the age of Deuteronomy, however, when Israel was about to enter the land and inaugurate a permanent national existence, they were commanded both to bring tithes in kind or money to the main sanctuary and partake of a sacred meal with the Levites, and to stimulate charity for the needy, to give the tithes every third year for the poor, not just the priests and Levites, who in the settled life in the land were better provided for than in the wilderness wanderings. To conclude, the different references in the OT to tithing prob. indicate differing practices in various times and places.
What is the relationship between the tithes and first fruits? A. S. Peake (HDB, IV, 780, 781) thinks it better to distinguish between tithes and first fruits (Deut 14:22-27; 18:4; 26:1-15). On the other hand, H. H. Guthrie (IDB, IV, 654, 655) takes the view that they had a common origin, which would account for the absence of mention of the tithe in the Book of the Covenant. It is difficult to give final answer here. Because Deuteronomy 26:1-15 mentions them together has led some to conclude they are the same. It is not likely that a double offering would be asked. Thus the tithe is considered as a further precise statement of the first fruits. A problem exists in that Deuteronomy 18:4 enjoins that the first fruits be given the priests. No such provision was made relative to the tithe. The problem remains open for further study.
c. Period of the monarchy. It became a royal prerogative to exact a tithe of the crops, vineyards, and flocks. Samuel warned Israel that they would have to give a tenth to the king (1 Sam 8:15, 17). It has been suggested that the tithe paid to the king was for the support of the royal sanctuaries. Even in idolatry Israel paid tithes, in such cases at the temple of the idols (Amos 4:4). King Hezekiah’s order of the tithe, apparently for the Levites, was so well carried out that the king had special chambers in the Temple made for their deposit (2 Chron 31:4-12). A similar arrangement was ordered by Nehemiah (Neh 10:39; 13:12).
d. Exilic and post-exilic. Ezekiel speaks (many believe prophetically) of the support of public worship by the prince for the collection of a general tax (Ezek 45:13ff., called terumah). The priests were to have for their support the first fruits and heave offerings (44:30). In Nehemiah’s day (Neh 10:37ff.) the Levites collected the tithe in all the cities and towns under the oversight of a priest, then delivered the tithe of the tithes to the storehouse in the Temple for the priests. When this plan did not function, the Levites had to support themselves (13:10ff.). In times of apostasy tithes were neglected (Mal 3:7-12).
e. NT. In the time of the NT, changes had taken place (Luke 11:42; 18:12). When the greed of the high priests impoverished the ordinary priests, the latter took the tithes by force (Jos. Antiq. XX. viii. 8; ix.2) The tithe of mint, anise, and cummin was a prescription of the Talmudic rabbis, which went beyond the intent of Scripture (Matt 23:23; Luke 11:42).
f. Early Church. For several centuries in the Early Church there was no support of the clergy by a systematic giving of a tithe. In time the tithe came to be regarded generally after the pattern in the Jewish synagogue. The practice was supported by an appeal to passages like Matthew 10:10; Luke 10:7; 1 Corinthians 9:7ff., but leaders in the church (like Irenaeus and Epiphanius) showed the arguments drawn from these texts were not valid. Rather, freedom in Christian giving was emphasized.
4. Extra-Biblical examples. The payment of tithes went on in Maccabean (2nd cent b.c.) times (1 Macc 10:31). The rabbis in Mishna and Talmud (Tracate on Tithes, 1:1) laid down the principle: “Everything that is eaten and is watched over and grows out of the ground is liable to tithe.” The rabbis gave elaborate rules as to the precise time in the year when cattle were tithed, also produce of the land and the fruit of the trees. The stage of growth at which produce was to be tithed was also prescribed. The rabbis placed great merit in the giving of tithes, stating that tithing was one of the three elements through whose merit the world was created (Gen. R. i. 6). All the tithe was to be given the poor.
Bibliography J. A. MacCulloch and W. H. D. Rouse, “Tithes,” HERE, XII, 347-351; H. H. Guthrie, Jr., “Tithe,” IDB, IV, 654, 655; Jew Enc, XII, 150-152; EBi, IV, 5102-5105; H. Lansdell, The Sacred Tenth or Studies in Tithe-Giving Ancient and Modern (1906), 45-109, 119-180; J. Reider, Deuteronomy with Commentary (1937), 144, 145; C. Carmichael, “New View of the Origin of the Deuteronomic Credo [Deut 26]” Vet Test 19:273-289, July 1969.