Tithe

Tithe [Heb. ma‘aser, ma‘aserah, ‘asar {v.}; Grk. dekatos, apodekatoō {v.}]. A tenth of something; a tenth of produce or livestock (i.e. income) presented to God.

Ancient Near East

Some form of tithing was practiced in cultures in the ancient Near East such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syro-Palestine, and the practice can be dated to at least the second millennium BC. For example, in Ugaritic literature the tithe was a fixed payment to the king made by each town and village. There are also references in Babylonian texts to the tithe being payable to the gods/temples and kings, tithe collectors, and tithe land. Abraham’s tithe to Salem’s king-priest Melchizedek suggests that the practice may have been common in the region at that time. And Samuel’s statements about Israel’s king requiring a tithe of produce and livestock highlight the tithe as a king’s levy in surrounding cultures (1 Sam 8:15, 17). The tithe commanded of Israel would combine both royal and religious features, a levy by Israel’s King and God presented to Him through the ministers of His tabernacle.

Old Testament

Genesis. The tithe is first mentioned in Genesis 14 as an act of Abraham following the priestly benediction of Melchizedek but ultimately in response to the Lord’s protection from harm in the rescue mission he had just embarked upon. Upon Abraham’s return from rescuing captives and goods taken by the coalition of Mesopotamian kings, Melchizedek the “king of Salem” and “priest of God Most High” brought out bread and wine and blessed Abraham. Abraham, in turn, gave “a tenth of everything” to Melchizedek (v. 20). This tithe was primarily a religious act as it was connected directly to the priestly pronouncement that evokes the blessings of Yahweh upon the patriarch. The content of Abraham’s tithe is not specified, but it may have included non-food items such as silver and gold retrieved from the Mesopotamian armies (cf. Heb 7:4).

The tithe is mentioned next in Jacob’s vow in chap. 28. In a dream, Yahweh had given His covenantal promises to the patriarch, and the patriarch subsequently pledged to have Yahweh as his God, worship Him, and give Him a tithe of all his possessions if Yahweh would be with him, provide for him, and return him safely to Canaan (v. 22). While the examples of Abraham and Jacob are descriptive, there is an underlying principle that the tithe belongs to Yahweh and given to Him through His priests.

Leviticus. Israel’s call to tithing is first presented in Leviticus 27. This chapter deals with vows and dedication of things given voluntarily to Yahweh (vv. 1-15) as well as firstborns and tithes that were required by Yahweh because they belong to Him (vv. 25-33). While the reason for requiring the tithe is not specifically stated, Yahweh’s right to the tithe is implied in the covenant: He is the King and Redeemer of Israel, Owner of the land, and Sustainer of His people. Israel would be a sojourner with Him (Lev 25:23) and He would bless His people when they worship and obey Him (Deut 28:1-14). In giving the tithe, therefore, Israel was recognizing and worshipping Yahweh as their King, Landlord, and Sustainer.

The tithe (of seed, fruit, or animal) is “the Lord’s” and “holy to the Lord” (vv. 30, 32, 33). The “tithe of the land” was a tenth of the yield of the field. One could redeem this tithe by paying its value plus 20% (v. 31). And the tithe of herds and flocks was made up of every tenth animal (presumably those born within the year) that passed under the rod (vv. 32-33). One could not substitute or redeem the tenth animal even if it were blemished, though one could add another animal and present both to the Lord (v. 33).

Numbers. Numbers 18 deals with the duties and responsibilities of the priests and the Levites (vv. 1-7). In vv. 8-20, Yahweh gifts His holy contributions from Israel to the priests (i.e. consecrated things, sacrificial offerings, gifts, firstborns/firstfruits), the reason being that the priests were not to have inheritance or portion of land among Israel. Yahweh Himself was their portion, so that what was due Him from Israel was theirs. In vv. 21-24, Yahweh also gifts Israel’s tithe, which was presented as a “contribution to the Lord” (v. 24), to the Levites “for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting” (v. 21 ESV). Like the priests, the Levites had “no inheritance among the people of Israel”; the “tithe of the people of Israel” was their “inheritance” (v. 24), the “reward” for their “service in the tent of meeting” (v. 31). Then in vv. 25-32, Yahweh instructs the Levites to give a tithe of their tithes as a contribution to Yahweh. This contribution was given to the priests (v. 28).

Leviticus 27 and Numbers 18 combine to lay the theological foundation of tithing among God’s people. By presenting the tithe among vows and things dedicated or consecrated to Yahweh, Leviticus underlines that tithing is a religious act. In Israel the tithe was a covenantal requirement, and its fulfilment was a worshipful act to Yahweh the Lord of the covenant, based on which Israel would inherit the land of Canaan. Leviticus 27 does not specify to whom Israel was to give their tithes, though the context implies that it was to be given to the priests, who are mentioned eleven times in the chapter as evaluators and recipients of other dedicated things. Numbers 18 reiterates the covenantal nature of the tithe by emphasizing that it belongs to Yahweh and then specifies that this contribution of Yahweh is to be given to the Levites and, through them, the priests.

We can infer from the relevant passages that the tithe was expected of those who earned income, which in ancient Israel would come primarily in the form of produce of the field and livestock. This would mean that those who did not have agricultural lands or animals and thus did not earn income did not have to give the tithe. The tribe of Levi and, as we shall see below, the stranger, fatherless, and widow would be among this category. Interestingly, however, the tithe that the Levites received was considered for them as “produce of the threshing floor, and as produce the winepress” (Num 18:30; also v. 27). The example of the Levites suggests that those who earned income from donations could also present a tithe to the Lord.

Deuteronomy. The tithe is mentioned in Deuteronomy 12, 14, and 26. The context of chap. 12 is worship and eating in the context of worship. Israel is asked to destroy the idols of Canaan and not to worship Yahweh the way the Canaanites worshipped their gods (vv. 1-4, 29-32). Israel’s corporate worship must take place where Yahweh would put His name (vv. 5, 11, 18, 21, 26). There they would worship with their sacrifices, tithes, firstborns of livestock, etc, eating and rejoicing in the presence of Yahweh together with their families and the Levites (vv. 6-26). Unlike non-sacrificial meats that they could eat in their towns, the sacrifices, vows, tithes, and firstborns of livestock could be eaten only at the sanctuary (vv. 15-28). The eating of the tithe is mentioned three times in this chapter, and always together with the sacrifices and firstborn animals (vv. 6, 11, 17).

Chapter 14 also deals primarily with food and eating. Following a brief injunction against making baldness on the forehead for the dead in vv. 1-2 (given earlier in Lev 13:41), which properly belongs together with the injunctions against idolatry in chap. 13, vv. 3-11 list clean meats Israel could eat and vv. 12-21 list unclean meats from which Israel must refrain (lists given earlier in Lev 11). Verses 22-29 state that Israel should tithe the produce of the filed “year by year” and eat the tithe as well as the firstborns of livestock (also in chap. 12) but then give out all the tithe of their produce of the “third year” to/for the Levite, stranger, fatherless, and widow to eat.

As in chap. 12, the Israelites could eat the tithe “year by year” (see interpretation below) but only before the Lord, i.e. at the tabernacle/temple area (14:23). And as in chap. 12, the tither would eat this tithe together with the family, servants, and the Levites (14:27). The list of what they could eat year-by-year includes the tithe of grain, of new wine, and of oil as well as the firstborn of animals (14:23, also in 12:17). Chapters 12 and 14 suggest that the Israelites ate the tithes in the form of sacrifice. The three feasts occurred at harvest times, and it would be during these feasts that the people ate their tithes. As a sacrificial eating that could not be done in their towns, those who dwelled far from the central place of worship and who could not transport the tithe there would exchange the tithe for money and take the money to the place of worship to buy whatever they desired and eat it there—oxen, sheep, wine, etc (14:24-26). And being an act of worship,eating the tithe at the sanctuary would contribute to the people learning to fear the Lord (v. 23).

The tithe of the “third year” was treated differently. First, unlike the year-by-year tithe eaten by the Israelites in celebrative and communal meals, they could not eat the third-year tithe. At the end of every three years (i.e. every three years of the six years of farming in the seven-year cycle), the Israelites had to bring out all the tithes of their produce of that year and lay them within their towns (14:28), so that the Levites, strangers, fatherless, and widows would be sustained (v. 29). And the Lord would bless His people in their labors (v. 29).

Finally, mention is made again of the third-year tithe in chap. 26 which deals with solemn declarations of obedience and dedication. This chapter divides into three sections. In the first section, the Israelites are commanded to make a declaration at the offering of the firstfruits at the sanctuary (vv. 1-11). In the second section, they are required to make another declaration after the giving out of the third-year tithe (vv. 12-15). Intriguingly, the third year of the seven-year cycle is referred to as “the year of the tithe” (v. 12) which has baffled scholars. Then in the third section (vv. 16-19), Israel is called to obey the decrees of the Lord as required by the covenant (v. 16), reminding them of the declaration they had made to have Yahweh as their God (v. 17) as well as Yahweh’s declarations to have Israel as His people (v. 18) and to bless them (v. 19).

After tithing the produce of the third year and giving it to/for the Levites, strangers, fatherless, and widows to eat within the towns of Israel (26:12, 13), the tither would declare before the Lord (1) that he had removed the “holy” (i.e. tithe) from his house according to the commandment (v. 13); (2) that he had not transgressed or forgotten the commandments (vv. 13, 14); (3) that he had not eaten the tithe while mourning or removed a portion of it while unclean, or offered any of it to/for the dead (v. 14); and (3) then pray that the Lord would look down from heaven and bless Israel and the land (v. 15). This declaration stresses the holiness of the third-year tithe.

In the passages of Deuteronomy, there is a social dimension to the tithe, especially as the tithe eaten by the Israelites was shared with Levites at the sanctuary during the feasts (chaps. 12, 14) and the third-year tithe was given out not only for the Levites but also the stranger, fatherless, and widow (chap. 14). These three categories of persons had one characteristic in common: landlessness. Through the tithe, therefore, Yahweh provided for the landless and by that encouraged communal solidarity among Israel. But the tithe was not simply a community-building mechanism but rather a covenantal responsibility. As stressed in all the passages on tithing, the tithe is primarily a religious institution, and its social dimension serves the theological. The solemn declaration in chap. 26 highlights the tithe’s religious character, showing that even though the third-year tithe was not taken to the tabernacle and eaten together with the sacrifices, it still retained its holiness.

The differences in the treatment of the tithe in Leviticus-Numbers and Deuteronomy have given rise to an age-long categorization of the tithe into at least two kinds. The Septuagint mentions “second tithe” in Deuteronomy 26:12; the apocryphal book Tobit 1:6-9 speaks of tithe of livestock and grain, second tithe in money, and the third-year tithe eaten with the poor; and Josephus refers to three tithes (Ant. 4.8.22). The Mishnah also mentions three tithes (see e.g., Abot 5:9; Ma’aser Sheni 1:7; 2:1; 4:9): the first tithe given to the Levites, the second tithe for festal meals, and the poorman’s tithe. In years 1, 2, 4, and 5 of the seven-year cycle, one would give the first and the second tithes, but in years 3 and 6, the tither would give the first tithe and the poorman’s tithe.

Most modern commentators agree with the rabbinic interpretation: every year the tither would give the Levitical tithe (first 10%) to the Levites (Lev 27:30-33; Num 18:21-32) and eat a second tithe (another 10%) in a family fellowship meal at the sanctuary together with the Levites (Deut 12:6-19; 14:22-27); in the third year, the second tithe was not eaten by the tither but given to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (Deut 14:28-29; 26:12-15). What the text clearly distinguishes is the “year by year” tithe and the tithe of the “third year.” And whatever the details might have been, it appears that the eating of the tithe by the Israelites was an accommodation that could discontinue whenever necessary. Outside of the Pentateuch, mention is made only of the tithe brought to the storehouse for the Levites and priests; there is no mention either of the eating of the tithe by the Israelites or of the widow, fatherless, and stranger benefiting from the tithe.

Nehemiah and Malachi. The books of Nehemiah and Malachi show that tithing was an issue in postexilic Judah. As in the Pentateuch, these books reiterate that the Lord gave His tithe to the tribe of Levi to sustain them as they engaged in the service of the tabernacle. Since the tithe was the livelihood of the Levites, a decision by Israel to withhold their tithes would result in the Levites abandoning the ministry to fend for themselves. Such was the case in the early days of the postexilic era, prompting Nehemiah and Malachi to stress the need for the people to return the tithe faithfully.

The tithe is mentioned in Nehemiah 10, 12, and 13. In chap. 10, the tithe appears in the context of the renewal of the covenant during which the people pledged to obey Yahweh (vv. 28-31) and, among other things, to give their offerings to Yahweh (vv. 32-34) including firstfruits and tithes for the Levites and priests (vv. 35-3). The resolution concludes with the pledge not to neglect the Lord’s house (v. 39). Chapter 12 mentions that during the dedication of the wall, officers were appointed over the storerooms of the Temple where they gathered the contributions, firstfruits, and tithes (vv. 44). And in chap. 13 the tithe appears in the reforms of Nehemiah during his second trip in Judah. In his absence, the chamber dedicated for the contributions including the tithe had been occupied by Tobiah (vv. 4-8) and the Levites had scattered away from the Temple because the tithes had not been given them (vv. 9-10). Nehemiah’s reforms (vv. 9, 11) led to the return of the Levites to service and the people committing to giving to the Levites, with officers appointed to apportion and distribute the contributions (vv. 11-13). As in the Pentateuch and elsewhere, Nehemiah underlines that the tithe belongs to Yahweh and given to the tribe of Levi for their services in the temple (10:37-38; 13:5).

In his fifth disputation (Mal 3:6-12), Malachi states that the postexilic community has turned aside from the Lord and calls them to return to the Lord so He would also return to them (vv. 6-7). The waywardness of the people includes their robbing God, so that returning to Him must include the faithful giving of their tithes and offerings (vv. 7-8). Malachi’s assertions in vv. 8-12 include the fact (a) that the tithe belongs to the Lord, (b) that the tithe must be brought to the storehouse of the temple, (c) that withholding the tithe is robbing Him and thus incurs His displeasure (also Deut 26:12-15), (d) that Yahweh blesses His people for the faithful return of the tithe and fulfils His mission through them (also Deut 26:12-15). As in the Pentateuch, the tithe is a stewardship responsibility of God’s people, and its faithful return is symptomatic of faithfulness to the Lord. Although the blessings for the giving of tithes promised in Malachi may apply to individual believers, Israel as a community of God’s people is in view.

Malachi instructs that they bring “all the tithe” to the storehouse (Mal 3:10). It is possible that in the immediate postexilic era the people did not eat the year-by-year tithe as instituted in Deuteronomy 14. This seems to be the case also in the book of Nehemiah where the impression is given that the year-by-year tithe was given to the Levites and priests (Neh 10:35-38). Even before the exile, Hezekiah’s reinstitution of the tithe (following the abandoning of the Temple in the days of his father) mentions only the bringing of the tithes to the Temple for the Levites and priests (2 Chr 31:5-16).

Storehouse. Although the Pentateuch does not specifically mention “storehouse,” the idea is that the tithes were brought to the Lord through His designated servants, the Levites. The Levites had 48 cities dedicated to them (Num 35:6-8; Josh 21:41), and these cities could be collection points of the tithes. There could have been some arrangements for collecting the tithes by the Levites that are not stated in Scripture. The fact that the Levites had to tithe their tithes and give to the priests would require that the tithes be collected at some central location(s). It would be from such central collection point(s) that the Levites would apportion the tithe of the priests and distribute to them (cf. Num 18:26-28).

Outside of the Pentateuch we find references to the tithe being gathered at the sanctuary, the ministerial headquarters of the Levites and priests. There were storerooms in the Temple where items such as the tithes and other offerings were collected and distributed. The storage of tithes and other contributions in the Temple chambers is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 31. As part of his religious reforms, King Hezekiah reinstated the priestly and Levitical services of the Temple and reinstated the giving of firstfruits and tithes to the Levites and the priests as their portion for their services in the Temple (2 Chr 31:2-7). The people brought their firstfruits and tithes and heaped them at the Temple and plenty of it was left after the priests and Levites had had their portions. Subsequently, the king instructed that chambers be prepared in the Temple to store these contributions and he appointed Levitical officers over the contributions, some in charge of apportioning them and others distributing the tithes to the Levites and the priests in their cities (vv. 8-19). Further, in a prophecy about the restoration of Israel from exile in Ezekiel 20, Yahweh indicates that He would accept the offerings, firstfruits, and all their holy things on His holy mountain (i.e. Temple, v. 40) and this would be an allusion to the practice of storing the dedicated things including tithes in the storerooms of the Temple. When in the postexilic era Malachi instructs the people to bring the tithes to the “storehouse,” the storehouse is in the Temple (“My house,” 3:10). Nehemiah and the elders encouraged the people to bring “year by year, to the house of the LORD . . . to the priests who minister in the house of our God . . . to the storerooms of the house of our God . . . the tithes of our land to the Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes in all our farming communities” (Neh 10:35-38; see also 13:4-5, 12). Nehemiah also appointed Levitical officers who collected the tithes from the towns of Israel and then brought either the tithe of the priests to the chambers of the Temple (Neh 10:37-38) or all the tithes into the chambers/storehouses of the Temple to be distributed to the priests and Levites (Neh 12:44; 13:9-13). Whatever the exact details might have been, the Levites, and wherever they gathered, were the collection and distribution point of the tithes.

New Testament

The New Testament contains few explicit references to the tithe. The references show that tithing was an ongoing practice in first century Israel. Jesus stated that the Pharisees tithed every little produce (even of herbs, not required in the Law) and yet neglected justice, mercy, and faith which are weightier matters of the Law (Matt 23:23-24; Luke 11:42), and in His parable in Luke 18, a Pharisee boasts of his acts of piety including tithing everything he acquired (v. 12). Jesus’ statements underscore tithing as a duty of the worshipper, but which must be accompanied by other biblical values.

Comparing the Levitical priesthood with the priesthood of Jesus, the book of Hebrews mentions the receipt of tithes by the Levites and Abraham’s giving of tithe to Melchizedek, whose priesthood is likened to Christ’s (Heb 7:5-9). The change of the “law” referred to in v. 12 denotes the discontinuation of the Levitical priesthood brought about by the sacrifice of Christ rather than a change in tithing (vv. 12-16). The example of Abraham (and through him Levi) giving the tithe to Melchizedek makes clear that tithing preceded the Levitical system and therefore could not be contingent on it (vv. 9-10). “In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives” (v. 13 ESV).

Jesus laid the foundational principle that the gospel worker be supported from the ministry. By stating that “the laborer deserves” his “food” (Matt 10:10) or “wages” (Luke 10:7), He evoked the principle that undergirded tithing in Israel.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul affirms this principle and alludes to the receipt of tithes by the Levites as an application of this principle, thereby grounding Christian giving in a broader continuity of God’s provision for those called to full-time service in the ministry. He first supports his argument for the gospel worker’s right to reward with a general principle in everyday life (i.e. the worker deserves his wages, vv. 7, 10) and a biblical civil law (i.e. one must not muzzle an ox when it treads out grain, vv. 8-9). Next, in vv. 13-14, Paul alludes to the example of the Levites and priests and cites the Lord’s command: “Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (ESV). While it is possible that in v. 13 Paul could be referring to a general principle applicable to both Jewish and pagan cults, evidence in the context suggests that Paul has the Levitical service particularly in mind. For example, he seems to refer to two categories of temple workers in a way that fittingly describes the Levitical system: “those who are employed in the temple service” and “those who serve at the altar” may respectively describe the Levites (employed in the temple service but could not offer sacrifices) and the priests (who offered the sacrifices on the altar). Similarly, Paul seems to distinguish between two types of food—“food from the temple” (lit. “eat from the temple”) and “sacrificial offerings” (lit. “share in the altar”)—akin to the distinctions in food in Number 18: tithes shared by both Levites and priests (vv. 21-32) and priestly portions of sacrificial offerings (vv. 8-20). Paul also uses the word thusiastērion, which is used exclusively for the biblical altar rather than a pagan one. Further, that the OT serves as backdrop for Paul’s analogy here is supported by the fact that in the previous set of arguments, he appeals to OT law (esp. Deut 25:4). And, finally, Jesus’ command to which Paul appeals would have the biblical system rather than the pagan practice as its background.

Paul effectively argues in 1 Cor 9:13-14 that gospel workers deserve their wages from the gospel ministry just as the tribe of Levi deserved their wages from the ministry of the tabernacle. It appears that, for Paul, full-time gospel ministry meets the criterion for which God assigned the tithes and offerings to the Levitical priests in Israel. By alluding to Numbers 18, he seems to consider the system of tithing and offerings in Israel as an authoritative example of the application of the principle that those who work in the ministry warrant material support from the ministry. But his ultimate authority is the word of Jesus, who “commanded” (diastassō, “arrange, prescribe, order”) that gospel workers receive support from the church. If the Lord’s command is that gospel workers “live” (i.e. make their living) “same way” (houtōs kai “thus also”) as did the Levites and priests, then Paul is presenting the Levitical system as being applicable to the church in principle (v. 14).

In summary, Paul seems to ground Christian giving in support of the gospel work on the tithing principle and the command of Jesus to that effect, thus preparing the way for the configuration of a system of giving in line with that principle. For him, the theology that underpins OT tithing and non-sacrificial freewill donations is the same that should underpin Christian giving. And as the OT makes a distinction between required contributions to the Lord (i.e. tithes, temple tax) and voluntary offerings (votive offerings, project offerings), so Paul speaks not only about the tithing principle (“those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel”) but also freewill offerings in support those in need for which he invites believers to give generously and cheerfully (Acts 24:17; Rom 15:25-27; 1 Cor 16:1-3; 2 Cor 8:1-5; 9:5-13), even as they give themselves first to the Lord (2 Cor 8:5). Indeed, some Christian believers in NT times contributed more than a tithe of their resources in support of God’s cause (e.g., Acts 2:44-47; 4:32-5:11; 6:1-6). See also Offerings.

References

Bediako, Daniel. “Tithing as a Christian Practice,” BRI Reflections 94 (April-June, 2026), 2-12.

Rodríguez, Ángel M. Stewardship Roots: Toward a Theology of Stewardship, Tithe, and Offerings. Silver Spring, MD: Stewardship Ministries Department, 1994.

________. Tithing in the New Testament and the Christian Church. Silver Spring, MD: Stewardship Ministries Department, 2010.

________. Tithing in the Writings of Ellen G. White. Silver Spring, MD: Stewardship Ministries Department, 2010.