Tithes

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Tithes

Judaism

(Heb., maʿaser). Money or goods levied for the maintaining of sacral institutions. Several types of tithe are mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures. According to Numbers 18. 24, the ‘first tithe’ was given to the Levites after the ‘heave-offering’ (terumah) had been separated from it for the priest. The ‘second tithe’ (Leviticus 27. 30–1; Deuteronomy 14. 22–6) was a tenth part of the ‘first tithe’. The laws of tithes are compiled in the tractate Maʿaserot in the Mishnah.

Christianity

In Europe a system of tithes came into legal force in the early Middle Ages (e.g. in England in 900), as a tax for the support of the Church and relief of the poor. The levy consisted of a tenth part, originally of the produce of lands (‘praedial’ tithes) and later of the profits of labour also (‘personal’ tithes). The system did not survive the secularization of continental European states after the Reformation.

For regulated giving in other religions, see ZAKĀT; DASWANDH.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions