6 Walter Jacob

6 OOo hese

gift to God , so the patriarch Jacob promised one tenth to God (Gen.28:18-22). The later legislation specified that“seed from the ground and fruit from the tree” along with herd and flock were to be tithed(Lev. 27:30 ff). There is some confusion about the use of the tithe. One text indicated that it was to be“consumed in the presence of God, ” in other words used for pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Deut. 14:22fF), but every third year it was to be given to the Levites(Deut. 14:27fF). A slightly later verse specified that it was for the poor and the Levite in the third year(Deut 26:12), which was interpreted as every third year. Another text indicated that the tithe was simply for the Levites(Nu. 18:21), as the priests received first fruit along with other gifts that could be used to maintain the sanctuary.

A second tithe diverted occasional funds to the poor. The second tithe was to be used primarily for pilgrimages to Jerusalem , but in the second and sixth year of a seven-year cycle, it was to be given to the poor.

Tithes were mentioned in 2 Chronicles.(31:2-12) but in none of the other later books. Details of the system of tithing were provided by two tractates of the Mishnah and in the Jerusalem Talmud, but as these laws applied only to the Land of Israel, they were academic, for a high percentage of the world Jewish population by that time lived in the Diaspora The prophets sought to extend the obligation to Babylonia and the early rabbis to Egypt and the neighboring lands(Demai 6:11), but we do not know with how much success.

The tithe was clearly part of Israelite life until the destruction of the Temple. The later rabbinic literature, especially the midrashim, sought to use it as a moral force to aid the poor. The ideal of providing ten percent of one’s income for the poor remained and was important in Judaism as well as later in Christianity . There was