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2ND & 3RD TITHE VERSES
Failure to properly discern how this system functioned has caused some
scholars to incorrectly envisage the existence of second and third tithe
requirements. Such perspectives have arisen due to the following;
2nd Tithe - Deut 14:22-26, 12:5-7,17-18; which discuss the
eating of the tithe at the feast(s) every year.
3rd Tithe - Deut 14:27-29, 26:12-14; which call for the
feeding of the Levite, stranger, fatherless
and widow; apparently every three years.
Also Amos 4:4 is usually translated to
confirm a tithe after 3 years.
It should be noted that in Scripture there is no examples of either
the so called 'second tithe' or the 'third tithe'. Many have also
pointed out that there exists a lack of lengthy supportive texts
detailing and justifying such tithes. (Obviously if these tithes
truly existed they would have been represented a significant
feature of the Law.)
For these reasons some have correctly concluded there only ever was
the one first tithe system.
What has been missing is clear explanations of how the relevant
verses should be translated and understood.
NO 2ND TITHE !
The view that a second tithe exists results from indications that a
tithe was eaten by the children of Israel during the 7th month feast.
This view has largely resulted from an incorrect translation of
Deut 14:22.
Most bibles read,
Deut 14:22 You shall surely tithe all the increase
of your grain that the field produces
year by year.
but should read,
Deut 14:22 Tithes you tithe all the increase
of your grain that the field produces
year by year.
In the Hebrew the word 'tithe' is encountered twice at the very start
of this verse. In addition the Hebrew word for 'surely' is not found
in this verse.
The 'Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament' by JR Kohlenberger
for example shows the initial portion of this verse to read,
Deut 14:22 To give tenth you give tenth ....
What translators in general have failed to realize is that God in this
verse has not been trying to convey an emphatic statement, such as the
common rendering 'You shall truly tithe', but that God has rather just
been alluding to the 'tithe of the tithe' given by the Levites to the
Priesthood.
This difference is very important! It means that this verse is not
being directed toward the lay people of Israel! The subsequent text
is rather being directed toward either the Levites or the Priesthood.
What has led to much of the confusion is the subsequent comment
'your grain that the field produces year by year'. At first one may
feel assured that this verse could only be referring to the common
people of Israel who grew the nation's crops. However, this line of
reasoning ignores the fact that Scripture advises that once received
tithe is itself tithed upon the remaining 9/10th's is to be considered
as if it was 'produce of the field'.
Num 18:30 Therefore you shall say to them: 'When you have
lifted up the best of it, then the rest shall be
accounted to the Levites as the produce of the
threshing floor and as the produce of the
winepress.
The field for the 12 tribes of Israel was the literal field, but the
field for the tribe of Levi was the tithe of the 12 tribes and the
field for the Priesthood was the tithe of the tribe of Levi.
So to whom is the following text of Deut 14:23-27 directed? Toward the
Levites or the Priests?
The answer can be found in verse 27.
Deut 14:27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your
gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.
Many have misunderstood this verse. While it is true all the tribes
of Israel received a significant inheritance of land except for the
Levites, this verse is not talking about this situation. What the
verse is discussing is that the Priesthood were not to forsake the
Levites who dwelt within the cities allocated to the Priesthood.
[ NB: 1) Excluding Jerusalem, the priests were allocated
13 cities in the Promised Land, refer Josh 21:19.
2) The Levites who dwelt within their own allocated
cities were provided for by the tithing system,
9/10th's of what was tithed by the tribes of Israel. ]
To help one understand the text of Deut 14:22-27 it is helpful to
grasp the following.
Neh 10:37 ... and to bring the tithes of our land to the
Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes
in all our farming communities.
:38 And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be
with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes;
and the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the
tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms of
the storehouse.
In the outlying areas the Levites received the tithe in the presence
of a priest. And the 'Levites' (the Levites who were priests, with
the help of any assisting Levites) then brought only a tenth of this
tithe up to Jerusalem.
It was the priests living in the outlying
areas of Israel which took the tenth of
the tithe to Jerusalem. The 'tithe of the
tithe' was for the Priesthood!
Once the Priesthood had themselves tithed
they were to able to utilse the balance
at the feast of the 7th month. They were
permited to convert some of it to cash if
otherwise unable to transport it to the
place where God had placed His name.
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The text of Deuteronomy 14:22-27 is saying the following:
Deut 14:22 Tithe you tithe, all the increase of your grain that
the field produces year by year.
:23 And you (priests) shall eat before the LORD your God,
in the place where He chooses to make His name abide,
the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your
oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks,
that you (priests) may learn to fear the LORD your
God always.
:24 But if the journey is too long for you (priests), so
that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the
place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name
is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed
you,
:25 then you shall exchange it for money, take the money
in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD
your God chooses.
:26 And you shall spend that money for whatever your
heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or
similar drink, for whatever your heart desires;
you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and
you shall rejoice, you and your household.
:27 You (priests) shall not forsake the Levite who is
within your gates (cities), for he has no part nor
inheritance with you.
The text of Deuteronomy 12:17-18 is saying the following:
Deut 12:17 You (priests) may not eat within your gates the tithe
of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the
firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your
offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings,
or of the heave offering of your hand.
:18 But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the
place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your
son and your daughter, your male servant and your
female servant, and the Levite who is within your
gates (cities); and you shall rejoice before the LORD
your God in all to which you put your hands.
In reference to Deut 12:17 note what Numbers chapter 18 has to say was
given to the Priesthood.
Num 18:8 And the LORD spoke to Aaron: "Here, I Myself have
also given you charge of My heave offerings, all the
holy gifts of the children of Israel; I have given
them as a portion to you and your sons, as an ordinance
forever.
:12 All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine
and the grain, their firstfruits which they offer to
the LORD, I have given them to you.
:15 Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh,
which they bring to the LORD, whether man or beast,
shall be yours; ...
:19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the
children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to
you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance
forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the
LORD with you and your descendants with you."
A lack of proper discernment has caused many to falsely teach that the
children of Israel were required to set aside a second 10% of their
increase.
The so called 'second tithe' verses were in reality advising how the
Priesthood were to handle the 'tenth of the tithe'.
NO 3RD TITHE !
References to a tithe given to the poor every third year, have created
a view that a third tithe also existed. Some have also been of the
opinion that this was merely a redirection of either the first or
'second' tithe.
The confusion resulted from a lack of understanding of;
1) the timing of the tithing collection
and 2) that the Priesthood also tithed.
TIMING
The Old Covenant established three annual feasts. The Feast of Unleavened
Bread, the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Ingathering. Refer Exodus
23:14-16. These were celebrated in the 1st, 3rd and 7th months
respectively.
Around Jerusalem tithe was brought to Jerusalem from the third month
to the seventh month, ie from the 2nd feast to the 3rd feast.
2Chr 31:6 ... also the tithe of holy things which were
consecrated to the LORD their God they laid in
heaps.
:7 In the third month they began laying them in heaps,
and they finished in the seventh month.
In outlying areas the 'tenth of the tithe' was brought to Jerusalem as
the priests travelled there to celebrate the Feast of Ingathering, the
3rd and final feast.
What this meant was that by the 3rd feast all the tithe had been brought
into Jerusalem. The 3rd feast was the time of the year when the bulk of
the tithe of the tithe was received at Jerusalem and when tithing for the
year was completed. Not fully appreciating this timing, translators went
astray in rendering Deut 14:28 and 26:12.
Deuteronomy 26:12 is the easiest rendering to correct,
Hebrew reads,
Deut 26:12 When you have finished laying aside all
the tenth of your increase in the year
the third, year of tithing, and have
given it to the Levite, the stranger,
...
Meaning is,
Deut 26:12 When you have finished laying aside all
the tenth of your increase in the year,
the third, the time of the year
of tithing, and have given it to the
Levite, the stranger, ...
Tithing took place every year, so it makes no sense to try and define a
new tithe (which was to be given every third year) and then say 'only
every third year was to be known as a year of tithing'. Quite clearly
every year was a year of tithing!
In this verse the 'third' is not defining a third year, but referring
to the third and final festival of the year. The time of the year
when the priesthood tithe was to be brought into the storehouse in
Jerusalem.
Deuteronomy 14:28 is the other relevant verse.
Hebrew reads,
Deut 14:28 Extremity three years shall bring forth
all the tithe of your produce in year that,
and lay it up within your gates.
In this verse we have encounter not the word 'third', but 'three'; and
not 'year' but 'years'. These factors seem to reinforce the common
third year perspective, because the text can not be so easily adjusted
to refer to the third festival of the year.
Can also read,
Deut 14:28 Extremity three, two shall bring forth
all the tithe of your produce in year that,
and lay it up within your gates.
The particular combination of Hebrew letters is usually translated
'two', but also very commonly as 'years'. The choice being determined
by context.
This second rendering would be saying that at the end of three, ie
the third festival, two people (or groups) would be responsible for
distributing the Jerusalem storehouse tithe out to the other cities
of the priests.
In Scripture we find confirmation that indeed two people were to be
made responsible for the distribution of this wealth.
Neh 13:13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse
Shelemiah the priest and Zadock the scribe, ...
( Levites were also appointed to assist. )
The third verse normally quoted to support the three year tithe is,
Amos 4:4 ... Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years
(quoted from NIV)
The relevant Hebrew actually says,
Amos 4:4 ... for three days the tithes of you
Since we have already seen that the priest tithe was to be offered
at the third festival in the seventh month, this appears to refer
to three specific days at this time.
During the seventh month there were three commanded rest days,
- Day of Trumpets , 1st day of the month
- First day of Ingathering, 15th of the month
- 'last day', 22nd of the month,
and an annual Sabbath day,
- Day of Atonement, 10th of the month.
So Amos 4:4 appears to be stating that the priest tithe was to be
accepted into the storehouse on a particular three of these four
days.
The so called 'third tithe' was actually the tithe of the Priesthood.
These above verses were not documenting an additional third year tithe,
as many have thought, but just documenting a facet of the first tithe.
THE PRIESTHOOD ALSO TITHED
The New Testament highlights an Old Covenant requirement which is not
immediately apparent. The Priesthood also had to tithe!
Matt 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:
justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to
have done, without leaving the others undone.
The New Testament also points out that the Priesthood was responsible
for providing for widows (those with no other source of assistance).
Matt 23:14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you devour widows' houses, ...
The Priesthood tithe which was to provide for the poorest of the land
'the Levite (those not otherwise provided for) ... and the stranger and
the fatherless and the widow'. At the end of the 3rd feast it would be
gathered and distributed to the priestly cities. In those cities it
would be given through the year as required to those in need (those
without any other means or family to support them). Refer Deut 14:28-29.
This tithe was not to be reclaimed by the Priesthood, Deut 26:13-15.
An Old Testament example which portrays that there was a tithe of the
'tithe of the tithe', ie a 1,000th:
Num 31:32 The booty remaining from the plunder,
which the men of war had taken, was
six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
:33 seventy-two thousand cattle,
:34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,
:35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, ...
:37 and the Lord's tribute of the sheep was
six hundred and seventy-five.
:38 The cattle ... of which the Lord's tribute was
seventy-two.
:39 The donkeys ... of which the Lord's tribute was
sixty-one.
:40 The persons ... of which the Lord's tribute was
thirty-two persons.
:41 So Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord's
heave offering to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD
commanded Moses.
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