# What is the origin(s) of Tithing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810 "2003-12-13T20:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lulu37](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@lulu37](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lulu37)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/1 "2003-12-13T20:02:02Z")
Are most religions under the obligation to tithe 10% to their particular denomination or church? From my recollection (being “older” has both its advantages & disadvantages as to remembering "how things “used to be”), I don’t recall even hearing that word outside of a few Mormon friends, in which religion they have always done so I believe, any more recently than 20 to 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/2 "2003-12-13T20:19:11Z")
“Tithing” goes back to the Hebrew bible and the Jews. It is, as you said, 10%. ---
**Author:** ![5cents](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/46a35a/32.png) [@5cents](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5cents)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/3 "2003-12-13T21:38:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*“Tithing” goes back to the Hebrew bible and the Jews. It is, as you said, 10%. \*\* Is that before or after taxes? ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/4 "2003-12-13T22:40:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 5cents \* > \*\*Is that before or after taxes? \*\* Before. The tithe is “a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field.” Deut. 14.22. Other applicable biblical verses refer to the tithe as an offering of “first fruits”: > [@](#): > > We obligate ourselves to bring the first fruits of our soil and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the LORD; also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our livestock, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks; and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our soil … Neh. 10.35-37. Some commentators refer to the tithe as “a fiurst charge on one’s income”: > [@](#): > > Moreover, it is implied that the people of God are responsible for the support of religious institutions, that the Lord has required such support as a first charge on their income. The charge is to be paid joyfully in a feast in the courts of Yahweh. To make the support of the Lord’s work the first charge on one’s income and to pay it gladly has always been a mark of godly men. _The Interpreter’s Bible_. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/5 "2003-12-13T22:44:00Z")
The word “tithe” appears in the Old Testament more times than I care to count. Leviticus 27:30,31,3,32; Numbers 18:265; Deuteronomy 12:17, 14:23,24,25, 26:12; 2 Chronicles 31:5,6… In most contexts, it refers to practice of the Jews bringing a tithe (or a tenth) of their crops to storehouses each year, as commaded to by God. This served several purposes: to have some reserve for next year in case of a drought or a plague or whatever; to have some food for widows, for the poor or whatever; and for food for the priestly classes who spent their time being priestly rather than producing their own food. Eventually it got extended to wagearners donating 10% of their wages to some sort of treasury. Today Christian churches use this practice as a means of getting money into the church coffers: to pay the minister; to pay the church’s electric bill; to support whatever charities the church supports, etc. I am unaware if modern Jews are expected to give 10% of their wages to their synagogue for the same reasons. IANAJew. Furthermore, I understand that one of the Five Pillars of Islam in giving alms to the poor, but I don’t know if that means, necessarily, that Muslims are expected to give a percentage of their wage to their Mosque. IANAMuslim. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/6 "2003-12-13T22:45:37Z")
Ooh, good one, **brianmelendez**. Beat me by four minutes (while I was typing my response). ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/7 "2003-12-13T22:52:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HeyHomie \* > **Today Christian churches use this practice as a means of getting money into the church coffers: to pay the minister; to pay the church’s electric bill; to support whatever charities the church supports, etc.** Modern churches usually say that the tithe goes directly to the church. But the relevant biblical verses are at best ambiguous. They do mention an ecclesiastical tithe: > [@](#): > > To the Levites [that is, the priestly class] I have given every tithe in Israel for a possession in return for the service that they perform, the service in the tent of meeting… But among the Israelites they shall have no allotment, because I have given to the Levites as their portion the tithe of the Israelites, which they set apart as an offering to the LORD. Num. 18.21-24. But they also mention a rejoicing tithe, which supports the priesthood only as an afterthought: > [@](#): > > Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field. In the presence of the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. But if, when the LORD your God has blessed you, the distance is so great that you are unable to transport it, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to set his name is too far away from you, then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the LORD your God will choose; spend the money for whatever you wish — oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household rejoicing together. As for the Levites resident in your towns, do not neglect them, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you. Deut. 14.22-27. There is a potential inconsistency about how the rejoicing tithe and the tithe for the needy (Deut. 14.28-29) relate to the tithe due to the Levites (Num. 18.24), particularly whether these tithes all relate to the same tenth to different tenths. As _The Interpreter’s Bible_ explains, the text of Deuteronomy 14.22-29 > [@](#): > > has no parallel in the other codes of law in the O.T. Num. 18:21-32, however, presents the regulations for the tithe according to the P code. There the whole tithe is said to be for the support of the Levites, one tenth of it for those who are priests (i.e., the Aaronites who officiate in the central sanctuary, according to P’s vocabulary). In Deuteronomy, on the other hand, nothing is said about the tithe being the exclusive property of the Levites. It is rather to be consumed by the worshipers at a feast from which the Levite is not to be excluded. The latter has the exclusive right only to the first fruits (18:4). There is thus a difference in the laws of D and P at this point. The commonest method of harmonization, one used in early Judaism, has been to assume that D presents a regulation for a second tithe to be taken after the first for the Levites had been set aside in accordance with Num. 18. Yet the evidence of the text does not permit such an interpretation, for nothing is said about the tithe of D being something in addition to another tithe unmentioned (cf. also 18:3-4). Consequently most critical scholarship has assumed that the priestly law in Num. 18 represents a later stage of development than that in Deut. 14. Yet so radically different are the two in the conception of the function and purpose of the tithe that it is difficult to understand how one could develop from the other. It is much simpler to assume that Deut. 14 reflects the custom of north Israel, while Num. 18 presents the rules for the tithe as they were inculcated by the priests of the Jerusalem temple for Judah (cf. Neh. 10:37). We thus have here another example of parallel developments in, rather than unilateral evolution of, the Israelite codes of law… ---
**Author:** ![lulu37](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@lulu37](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lulu37)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/8 "2003-12-13T22:55:10Z")
But isn’t tithing in the Old Testament somewhat more complicated than that? Something about a biennal (every three years) tithe & another about a 7 years? Also, the word tithe itself is actually German, isn’t it? (I’ve since done a little internet research). I am curious whether any or all sects/movements, etc.of the Jewish faith currently tithe and if not, why not? It’s my opinion that “tithing” became a religious buzzword" at least in America just about the time of the influence of TV Evangelists…again in the last 20 to 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-s-of-tithing/218810/9 "2003-12-13T23:02:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lulu37 \* > **But isn’t tithing in the Old Testament somewhat more complicated than that? Something about a biennal (every three years) tithe & another about a 7 years?** I don’t know about a septennial tithe. (There is a septennial remission of debts.) But at least one biblical verse does mention tithing as a triennial (not biennial) activity: > [@](#): > > **Every third year** you shall bring out the full tithe of your produce for that year, and store it within your towns; the Levites, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you, as well as the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work that you undertake. Deut. 14.28-29. Other verses mention it as an annual activity: > [@](#): > > Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in **yearly** from the field. Deut. 14.22-27. > [@](#): > > We obligate ourselves to bring the first fruits of our soil and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, **year by year** , to the house of the LORD; also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our livestock, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks; and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our soil … Neh. 10.35-37.