Tythes

TYTHES. We have nothing more ancient concerning Tythes, than what we find Gen. xiv. 20. that Abraham gave Tythes to Melchisedech, King of Salem, at his Return from his Expedition against Chedorlaomer, and the four Kings in Confederacy with him. Abraham gave him Tythe of all the Booty he had taken from the Enemy. Jacob imitated this Piety of his Grandfather, when he vowed to the Lord the Tythe of all the Substance he might acquire in Mesopotamia. Under the Law, Moses ordained, All the tythe of the land, whether of the seed of the Levit. xxvii. 30. 31, 32.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 ought of his tythes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tythe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the Tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.

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 Tythe of the Grain and Fruits growing in the Fields, which are comprehended under the general Word Proventus, or Revenue; but they also paid Tythe of the Pulse and Herbs growing in their Gardens, which was more than the Law required of them. Our Saviour did not disapprove of this Exactness of theirs; but he blames them for their Hypocrisy and Pride. We read also in their Talmud,¹ that whatever is eaten or laid up in reserve, and which is produced from the Earth, is liable to First-fruits and Tythes.

The Tythes were taken from what remained, after the Offerings and First-fruits were paid. They brought the Tythes to the Levites in the City of Jerusalem, as appears by Josephus and Tobit. The Levites set apart the tenth part of their Tythes for the Priest; for the Priests did not receive them immediately from the People, and the Levites were not to meddle with the Tythes 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 Tythe 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 thereto a Fifth from the whole, as the Rabbins inform us. Vide Lyran. Deut. xxvi. 12.This Tenth Part was applied towards the celebrating the Festivals in the Temple, and was nearly resembled by the Agapæ, or Love-Feasts of the first Christians. Thus are those Words of Deuteronomy understood by the Rabbins: Thou shalt truly tithe Deut. xiv. 22, 23.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 chuse to place his Name there, the tythe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thy Oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks: that thou mayst learn to fear the Lord thy God always. Josephus Joseph. Antiq. l. 4. c. 8. Tob. i 6.also speaks of these Feasts which were made in the Temple, and in the holy City.

Tobit says, that every three Years he paid punctually his Tythe to Strangers and Proselytes. This was probably because there were neither Priests nor Levites in the City wherein he dwelt. Moses speaks of this last Deut. xiv. 28. xxvi. 12.kind of Tythe: At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tythe 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 dost. We think this third Tythe not to be different from the second before taken notice of, 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 Tythes, that which was given to the Levites and Priests, and that which was apply’d to making Feasts of Charity, either in the Temple of Jerusalem, or in other Cities.

Samuel tells the Children of Israel, that Joseph. Antiq. 1.

4. c. 8. Tob. i. 6. the King they had a mind to have over

1 Sam. viii. 15, them would take the tenth of their seed, 16. 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. Yet it does not clearly appear from the History of the Jews, that they regularly paid any Tythe 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. The Reader may see our Commentary upon Leviticus xxvii. 30.

At this Day the Jews no longer pay Leo of Modena, p. 1. c. 12.any Tythe, at least they do not think themselves obliged to do it, except it be those that 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 that 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.

The Christians also pay the Tythe of the Produce of their Estates to the Ministers of the Lord. But this is not by vertue of any Law that either Jesus Christ or his Apostles have enacted. Our Saviour has commanded nothing in this Affair; only when he sent his Apostles to preach in the Cities of Israel, he Matth. x. 10. Luke x. 7, 8.forbad them to carry either Purse or Provisions along with them, but to enter into the Houses of those that were willing to receive them, and to eat what should be set before them: For, as he adds, the Labourer is worthy of his Hire, and of his Maintenance. And St. Paul would have it, that he that receives Instruction, should adminster some of his good things to him that gives it him. It is agreeable to Nature and Reason, that Galat. vi. 6.they which wait at the Altar should live by the Altar; and who ever undertook a Warfare 1 Cor. ix. 13at his own Expence?

But in the Infancy of the Church, the Ministers of the Altars lived only upon the Alms and Oblations of the Faithful. Afterwards Lands and fixt Revenues were given to Churches, and to the Ministers of the Lord. Good People began betimes to give them a certain Portion of their Substance, which was called Tythe, in imitation of that which was paid to the Priests of the Old Covenant, tho’ every one gave only as his Devotion prompted him, without any express Obligation, either as to Quantity or Quality. Lastly, the Bishops, in concurrence with Secular Princes, made a Law for this Occasion, and obliged Christians Christians to give to the Ecclesiasticks the Tythe of their Revenues, and of the Fruits which they produced from the Earth. As these Regulations were not all made at the same time, nor in an uniform manner, we cannot precisely fix the Time of the Establishment of Tythes. But it is far in Antiquity, and it was paid as far up as the sixth Century; tho’ not in an uniform manner, nor every where under the Origen. Homil. xi. in Numeros.same Obligations. Origen thinks, that the Laws of Moses concerning Tythes and First-fruits are not repealed by the Gospel, and that they ought still to be observed under the New Law. F. Paul, in his Treatise of Benefices, observes, that before the Eighth and Ninth Century, they did not pay Tythes in the East, and in Africa. But those that have treated on this Matter with greater Accuracy, shew that Tythes had been paid even from the earliest Times. All the East being at present under the Dominion of Infidel Princes, the Custom of paying Tythes must needs be discontinued there.

The most barbarous Nations, the Heathen Greeks and Romans, out of a Principle of Religion, common to all Men, have often dedicated their Tythes to their Gods. Some have made it a

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