Tithes

VIEW:57 DATA:01-04-2020

TITHES.—According to both North Israelite (Gen_28:22) and Judæan (Gen_14:20) tradition, Israel’s patriarchs paid tithes; the custom, therefore, among the Israelites was evidently very ancient. But the institution of offering tithes of the fruits of the field and of the flocks is one which dates back to a period greatly anterior to Israelite history. A tenth of the flocks, fruits, and possessions of all kinds, as well as of the spoils of war, was given to their gods by many peoples, not only of Semitic, but also of Indo-Germanic race.
In the OT two ideas lie at the root of the custom; the more antique—apart from its position in the Bible—is that which regards the offering of a tenth to the Deity as His due, owing to His being the Supreme owner of the land and all that it brings forth, or that feeds upon it (Lev_27:30-33); here the underlying thought is that of propitiation,—if the Supreme owner does not receive His due, His blessing will be wanting another year. The other idea, which is obviously a later one, is that of thankfulness for the blessings received (Gen_28:20-22); the tithes were given in recognition of what the Giver of all things had accorded to His worshippers.
Among the Israelites this ancient custom was taken advantage of by the Levitical priesthood, who, as those employed in the sanctuary of Jahweh, claimed for themselves, on behalf of Him, a tithe of all. According to Num_18:21-24 the Levites were to receive this in lieu of the inheritance of land which fell to all the other tribes; but they received the tithe on behalf of Jahweh; stress is laid on this point in Num_18:24 : ‘For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave-offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance’;—the ‘heaving’ of an offering towards the altar was the substitute for the actual consuming of it upon the altar. Although tithes were, of course, intended to be offered once a year (Deu_14:22), it would appear from Amo_4:4—though the words are ironical—that in their anxiety to more than fulfil the requirements of the Law, many worshippers brought them more frequently (the original Hebrew, however, is ambiguous). Though, generally speaking, tithes were offered only to God, yet it is clear that they were sometimes given also to the king (cf. Gen_14:20, 1Sa_8:17, Heb_7:2; Heb_7:4)]
W. O. E. Oesterley.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

(See DEUTERONOMY.) Tenths of produce, property, or spoils, dedicated to sacred use. So Abram (and Levi, as in Abram's loins) to Melchizedek the king priest who blessed him (Gen_14:20; Heb_7:1-10). Jacob after his Bethel vision vowed a tenth of all that God gave him, should God be with and keep him, and give him bread and raiment, and bring him again to his father's house in peace (Gen_28:20-22). The usage of consecrated tithes existed among the Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, and Arabians. See 1Ma_11:35; Herodotus i. 89; iv. 152; v. 77; vii. 132; 9:81; Diod. Sic. v. 42; xi. 33; 20:44; Cicero, Verr. ii. 3,6-7; Xenophon, Anabasis v. 3, section 9. The "tithe" (terumot) of all produce as also of flocks and cattle belonged to Jehovah. and was paid in kind, or if redeemed one fifth of the value was added. Lev_27:30-33, "whatsoever passed under the rod": the rabbis had the tradition that the animals to be tithed were enclosed in a pen, from whence they passed one by one under the counter's rod, and every tenth was touched with a rod dipped in vermilion (Jer_33:13; Eze_20:37).
The Levites received this terumot; they in turn paid a tenth of this to the high priest (Num_18:21-28; Num_18:31). In Deu_10:9; Deu_12:5-18; Deu_14:22; Deu_14:29; Deu_18:1-2; Deu_26:12-14, the general first tithe of all animal and vegetable increase for maintaining the priests and Levites is taken, for granted; what is added in this later time is the second additional tithe of the field produce alone, and for celebrating the sacred feasts each first and second year in the Shiloh or Jerusalem sanctuary, and every third year at home with a feast to the Levites, the stranger, fatherless, and widow. The six years thus marked were followed by the Jubilee year; on it the attendance was the larger because of the scant attendance on the sixth year when most stayed at home. In the Jubilee year there was no tithe, as the land enjoyed its sabbath. Tobit (Tob_1:7-8) says he gave a third tithe to the poor; Josephus (Ant. 4:8, 8, section 22) also mentions a third tithe; so Jerome too on Ezekiel 45.
Maimonides denies a third tithe (which would be an excessive burden) and represents the seceded tithe of the third and sixth years as shared between the poor and the Levites. (See Selden on Tithes, 2:13). Ewald suggests that for two years the tithe was virtually voluntary, on the third year compulsory. Thus there was a yearly tithe for the Levites, a second yearly tithe for two years for the festivals; but this second tithe on every third year was shared by the Levites with the poor. The kings, Samuel foresaw, would appropriate the three years' poor man's tithe (1Sa_8:15; 1Sa_8:17). Hezekiah rectified the abuse (2Ch_31:5; 2Ch_31:12; 2Ch_31:19); also Nehemiah after the return from Babylon (Neh_10:38-39; Neh_13:5; NEh_13:12; Neh_12:44).
The Pharisees were punctilious in paying tithe for all even the smallest herbs (Mat_23:23; Luk_18:12). Amos (Amo_4:4) upbraids Israel with zeal for the letter of the tithe law while disregarding its spirit. Malachi (Mal_3:10) seconded Nehemiah's efforts. God promises to "open heaven's windows and pour out a blessing" so that there would be no "room to receive it," provided the people by bringing in all the tithes would put Him to the proof as to keeping His word. Christians, whose privileges are so much greater and to whom heaven is opened by Christ's death and ascension, should at least offer no less a proportion of all their income to the Lord's cause than did the Israelite: we should not lose but even in this world gain thereby (Pro_3:9-10). Azariah the high priest told Hezekiah: "since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord we have bad enough to eat, and have left plenty, for the Lord hath blessed His people, and that which is left is this great store" (2Ch_31:10).
The New Testament plan of giving is 1Co_16:2; 2Co_9:7-9. Moral obligation, not force, was what constrained the Israelite to give tithes. He solemnly professed he had done so every third and sixth year (of the septennial cycle), when instead of taking the second or vegetable tithe to the sanctuary he used it at home in charity and hospitality (Deu_26:13-14; Deu_14:28-29). Ananias' and Sapphira's declaration corresponds, but it was a lie against the Holy Spirit (Acts 5); Joseph's fifth of Egypt's increase to the sovereign who had saved the people's lives corresponds to, and was perhaps suggested by, the double tithe or fifth paid by Israel long before.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

We have nothing more ancient concerning tithes, than what we find in Gen_14:20, that Abraham gave tithes to Melchisedec, king of Salem, at his return from his expedition against Chedorlaomer, and the four kings in confederacy with him. Abraham gave him tithe of all the booty he had taken from the enemy. Jacob imitated this piety of his grandfather, when he vowed to the Lord the tithe of all the substance he might acquire in Mesopotamia, Gen_28:22. Under the law, Moses ordained, “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord,” Lev_27:30-32. The Pharisees, in the time of Jesus Christ, to distinguish themselves by a more scrupulous observance of the law, did not content themselves with paying the tithe of the grain and fruits growing in the fields; but they also paid tithe of the pulse and herbs growing in their gardens, which was more than the law required of them. The tithes were taken from what remained, after the offerings and first fruits were paid. They brought the tithes to the Levites in the city of Jerusalem, as appears from Josephus and Tob_1:6. The Levites set apart the tenth part of their tithes for the priest; because the priest did not receive them immediately from the people, and the Levites were not to meddle with the tithes they had received, before they had given the priests such a part as the law assigned them. Of those nine parts that remained to the proprietors, after the tithe was paid to the Levites, they took still another tenth part, which was either sent to Jerusalem in kind, or, if it was too far, they sent the value in money; adding to it a fifth from the whole as the rabbins inform us. This tenth part was applied toward celebrating the festivals in the temple, which bore a near resemblance to the agapae, or love feasts of the first Christians. Thus are those words of Deuteronomy understood by the rabbins: “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thy oil, and of the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks: that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always,”
Deu_14:22-23. Tob_1:6, says, that every three years he punctually paid his tithe to strangers and proselytes. This was probably because there were neither priests nor Levites in the city where he dwelt. Moses speaks of this last kind of tithe: “At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates. And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest,”
Deu_14:28; Deu_26:12. It is thought that this tithe was not different from the second kind before noticed, except that in the third year it was not brought to the temple, but was used upon the spot by every one in the city of his habitation. So, properly speaking, there were only two sorts of tithes, that which was given to the Levites and priests, and that which was applied to making feasts of charity, either in the temple of Jerusalem, or in other cities. Samuel tells the children of Israel, that the king they had a mind to have over them would “take the tenth of their seed, and of their vineyards, and give to his officers, and his servants. He will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants,” 1Sa_8:15; 1Sa_8:17. Yet it does not clearly appear from the history of the Jews, that they regularly paid any tithe to their princes. But the manner in which Samuel expresses himself, seems to insinuate that it was looked upon as a common right among the kings of the east. At this day, the Jews no longer pay any tithe; at least they do not think themselves obliged to do it, except it be those who are settled in the territory of Jerusalem, and the ancient Judea. For there are few Jews now that have any lands of their own, or any flocks. They only give something for the redemption of the first-born, to those who have any proofs of their being descended from the race of the priests or Levites. However, we are assured, that such among the Jews as would be thought to be very strict and religious give the tenth part of their whole income to the poor.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

It seems to have been a custom from very early times for people to give a tithe (i.e. a tenth) of their goods to God as an act of worship and thanks. In this way they acknowledged God as the supreme controller of life’s events and the sole giver of life’s blessings. The custom existed as a voluntary act of devotion long before it became compulsory practice under the law of Moses.
The Bible records two pre-Mosaic examples of tithing. Abraham, on gaining a notable victory in the land God had promised him, offered to God a tithe of the goods he had seized in battle (Gen_14:17-24; Heb_7:4-10). Jacob, on fleeing for safety to a distant land, promised to give God a tithe of his possessions if God brought him back safely (Gen_28:20-22). In both cases the offering of the tithe was an acknowledgment that God was the sovereign controller in human affairs and the giver of all gifts.
The law of Moses
Under the law of Moses, Israelites had to give to God one tenth of all crops, fruit, flocks and herds. The tenth that they offered had to be an honest sample of the whole, not an inferior portion that they had no use for themselves. When tithing animals, for example, the owner counted the animals as they passed through the gate, setting aside every tenth one for God, regardless of whether it was good or bad (Lev_27:30; Lev_27:32-33).
If people so desired, they could offer money instead of their produce or animals. The amount they paid was the value of the goods plus a fifth. This additional fifth was a sort of fine, since they were keeping for their own use something that rightly belonged to God (Lev_27:31).
The tithes were paid to the Levites, and so became the chief source of the Levites’ income. Since the Levites spent their time in religious service for the people, they had no time to earn a normal living. This constant income from the tithes was payment for their work and compensation for their lack of a separate tribal area in Canaan (Num_18:21-24).
Having received tithes, the Levites then had to pay tithes. Their income was the produce of other people’s farms, but when they offered a tenth of this produce to God, he accepted it as if it were their own. The Levites’ tithes became the income of the priests (Num_18:25-32).
People presented their tithes by taking them to the central place of worship, where, with their households and the Levites, they joined in a joyous ceremonial meal (Deu_12:5-7; Deu_12:17-19). If the offerers lived so far from the tabernacle (or later the temple) that transporting their goods was a problem, they could sell their tithes locally and take the money instead (Deu_14:22-27).
Every third year the offerers had to distribute this tithe (or perhaps an additional tithe) in their own locality, so that the local poor could benefit from it as well as the Levites. In this case the offerers, after distributing their tithes, had to go to the central place of worship and declare before God that they had done according to the divine command (Deu_14:28-29; Deu_26:12-15).
In addition to these compulsory tithes, there were sacrifices and offerings of various kinds. Some of these were required by law, but others were made voluntarily (2Ch_31:5-6; Neh_10:37-38; Neh_12:44; Mal_3:8-10). (For details see FEASTS; FIRSTBORN; FIRSTFRUITS; SACRIFICE; VOWS.)
New Testament times
In later years Jewish teachers of the law added their own laws to those given by Moses. The result was that by the time of Jesus, they had made the tithing system a heavy burden on the Jewish people. These teachers instructed Jews to keep the laws of tithing even to the smallest detail, assuring them that in doing so they would gain God’s favour. But they neither taught nor practised the more important matters of faith, love, mercy and justice (Mat_23:4; Mat_23:23; Luk_11:42; Luk_11:46; Luk_18:12).
The New Testament does not teach tithing as a binding law for Christians. Nevertheless, it upholds the principle of proportionate giving, the amount people give depending on the amount they earn (1Co_16:2; 2Co_8:12-14). God wants people to make their offerings willingly and joyfully, not under compulsion or grudgingly (2Co_8:3; 2Co_9:7). But he adds the promise that they need not fear poverty if they give much, because God can increase his supply so that the generous giver still has more than he needs (2Co_9:8-10). (See also GIVING.)
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.


(Anglo-Saxon, teotha, a tenth) a tenth part of the produce of the land, which by ancient usage, and subsequently by law, is set aside for the support of the clergy and other religious uses. In the Christian dispensation the very circumstance of the existence of the clergy is supposed by many to imply a certain fixed provision for their maintenance. This obligation has been put forward in ecclesiastical legislation from the earliest period. The Apostolic Canons, the Apostolic Constitutions, St. Cyprian on the Unity of the Church, and the works of Ambrose, Chrysostom, Augustine, and the other fathers of both divisions of the Church, abound with allusions to it. In the early Christian Church the custom of consecrating to religious purposes a tenth of the income was voluntary, and it was not made obligatory until the Council of Tours in 567. The second Council of Macon, in 585, enjoined the payment of tithes under pain of excommunication; and Charlemagne, by his capitularies, formally established the practice within those portions of the ancient Roman empire to which his legislation extended.
The introduction of tithes into England is ascribed to Offa, king of Mercia, at the close of the 8th century; and the usage passed into other divisions of Saxon England, and was finally made general by Ethelwolf. They were made obligatory in Scotland in the 9th century, and not long after in Ireland.. At first the choice of the Church to whom a person paid tithes was optional; but by a decretal of Innocent III, addressed to the archbishop of Canterbury in 1200, all were directed to pay to the clergy of their respective parishes. According to English law, tithes are of three kinds- predial, mixed, and personal. Predial tithes are those which arise immediately from the ground, as grain, fruit, herbs, etc. Mixed tithes are those proceeding from things nourished by the earth, as calves, lambs, pigs, milk, cheese, eggs, etc. Personal tithes are those arising from the profits of personal industry in the pursuit of a trade, profession, or occupation. The latter were generally paid in the form of a voluntary offering at Easter, or some other period of the year. The law exempted mines, quarries, wild animals, game, fish, and also tame animals kept for pleasure, and not for use or profit.
Another and a more arbitrary distinction is into great and small — the first being tithes of grain, hay, wood, etc.; the second being the other kind of predial, as well as all personal and mixed tithes. The great tithes of a parish belonged to the rector, and the small tithes to the vicar. Tithes were originally paid in kind, as the tenth sheaf, the tenth lamb; but the inconvenience and trouble involved in this mode of payment led to the adoption of other methods. This was done either by the payment of a fixed amount each year, irrespective of actual produce, or by a money payment mutually agreed upon; by a partial substitution of payment or labor, as when a person contributed a smaller amount of produce, but free from the expense of harvesting, etc.; or by the payment of a bulk sum in redemption of the impost, either for a time or forever, as the case might be, so that the land became tithe-free. By 1 Elizabeth, c. 19, and 13 Elizabeth, c. 10, such alienations of tithe-payment were restricted to a term of twenty-one years; or three lives.
Originally convents occupying lands in England paid tithes to the parochial clergy; but by a decretal of Paschal II they were exempted from such payments in regard to lands held by themselves in their own occupation. This exemption was confined by subsequent legislation to the four orders, Templars, Hospitallers, Cistercians, and Premonstratensians, and after the fourth Council of Lateran, A.D. 1215, only in respect of lands held by them before that year. At the Reformation many of the forfeited Church lands when sold were held free of tithes.
These partial exemptions, and the fact that the tithes were a tax for the support of the clergy of the Established Church, made it very unpopular with those who were obliged to pay, and especially so to Dissenters. A measure of commutation became absolutely necessary, but, although recommended as far back as 1822, did not become law until 1838. Various statutes for England or Ireland have since been enacted regulating the payment of tithes (6 and 7 William IV, c. 71; 7 William IV and 1 Victoria, c. 69; 1 and 2 Victoria, c. 64; 2 and 3 Victoria, c. 32; and 5 and 6 Victoria, c. 54). Their object for England is to substitute a money rent-charge, varying on a scale regulated by the average price of grain for seven years for all the other forms of payment. In Ireland the settlement was effected by a commutation of tithe into a money rent-charge three fourths the former value. The Disestablishment Act of 1869 abolished tithes and created a common fund for the support of the Protestant Episcopal Church and clergy. In France tithes were abolished at the Revolution, and this example was followed by the other Continental countries. In the Canadian provinces of Quebec, tithes are still collected by virtue of the old French law, yet in force there. In the United States, tithes are exacted by the Mormon hierarchy. See Bingham, Christ. Antiq. bk. 5, ch. 5, § 1 sq.



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

FACEBOOK

Participe de nossa rede facebook.com/osreformadoresdasaude

Novidades, e respostas das perguntas de nossos colaboradores