Tithe may be defined as one tenth of somebody’s income or produce paid voluntarily or as a tax for the support of a church or its clergy.
The patriarch Abraham first gave tithes in Gen 14: 18-20, at an encounter with Melchizedek king of Salem, who was the priest of the most high God. Jacob also vowed to God in Gen 28:22 saying “and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” Today it is quite difficult to monetize gifts that are not in cash, so as to pay tithes on them. Tithing had by this time become a tradition in Israel. In Numbers 18: 20 -26 the LORD gave a clear instructions to Moses not to give any inheritance to the Tribe of the Levites as HE had chosen them to be priests and thus should live by the tithes the rest of tribes of Israel would pay to them. Truly in Joshua 13:33 when the inheritance was shared amongst the tribes, none was given to the tribe of Levi, as the LORD had commanded. So clearly the Tithes were for the Priests.
