Tithe
0586 APODEKATO'O (4): apo = from + dekatoo = tenth; to give a tenth or collect a tenth.Under the law given through Moses, eleven of the tribes of Israel each gave a tithe (a tenth) of what they received to the tribe of Levi (including the priests) for their sustenance because that tribe was engaged in full time service to God. And the tribe of Levi also offered a tenth of what they received to God. This is stated in Num.18.24-26: "For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as an offering unto Jehovah I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said unto them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.' And Yahweh spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Moreover you shalt speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up an offering of it for Jehovah; a tenth of the tenth.'" This is also stated in Neh.10.37-38. "...and that we should bring the first-fruits of our coarse meal, and our offerings, the fruit of all manner of trees and the new wine and the oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure-house."
During Jesus' lifetime, Jews still lived under the law of Moses, so the giving of a tenth to the tribe of Levi was still in effect as shown in Mt.23.23: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you give a tenth (apodekato'o) [of] the mint and dill and cummin, but you abandoned the heavier things of the law: judgment and mercy and trust. Yet it was necessary to do these things and not leave the others [undone]." Luke's account of this event in Lk.11.42 is similar: "But woe to you Pharisees, because you give a tenth (apodekato'o) of the mint and the rue and every herb and bypass the judgment and the love of God. But it was necessary to do these things and not not bypass the others."
The ‘giving of the tenth' was required of the Jews from the time of the giving of the law of Moses, up until the time Jesus nailed that law to the cross (Col.2.14): "...having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us [and] which was hostile to us; and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." So, ‘tithing' was required of Jews under the law of Moses. This is verified in Heb.7.5: "And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest's office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth (apodekato'o) from the people...".
After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. "Not one stone was left upon another, as Jesus had foretold in Mt.24.1-2.. The temple was destroyed. The Jewish genealogical records no longer exist. Jews can no longer determine which tribe they are from and thus cannot ‘tithe' to the tribe of Levi.
In an event which occurred some 400 years before the time of Moses, Abraham gave Melchisedek a tenth of the spoils after his return from the battle of the kings. (Hebrews 5, 6 and 7).And several comparisons are made concerning the characteristics of Jesus and Melchisedek. But neither tithing by Jews nor Abraham giving Melchisedek a tenth justifies any requirement for Christians to tithe.
Translation:
GIVE A TENTH - Mt.23.23. Lk.11.42; 18.12.
COLLECT A TENTH - Heb.7.5.
1181 DEKATE (4) a tenth, as in Heb.7.4: "Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth (dekate) of the choicest spoils."
Translation:
TENTH - Heb.7.2,4,8,9.
1183 DEKATO'O (2) to give or receive a tenth or ‘tithe,' as in Heb.7.6: "But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them received a tenth from Abraham, and blessed the one who had the promises."
Translation:
GIVE A TENTH - Heb.7.9.
RECEIVE A TENTH - Heb.7.6.
1182 DEKATOS (3) adj., descriptive of the tenth part of something or the tenth item in a series, as in Jn.11.39: "...for it was about the tenth (dekatos) hour."
Translation:
TENTH - Jn.1.39. Rev.11.13; 21.20.