Leviticus 27:30

"And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is Jehovah's: it is holy unto Jehovah. And if a man will redeem aught of his tithe, he shall add unto it the fifth part thereof. And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto Jehovah. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then, both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed."

The tithe is here introduced as something already known and accepted. It will be remembered that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, and that Jacob also vowed to give "a tenth" unto God. Mentioning the conduct of the Pharisees, Jesus spoke of their "righteousness," including a reference to their payment of tithes, stating at the same time that except our "righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees" we cannot please God. The nearest thing in the N.T. to specific commandment that Christians should pay tithes is found in Hebrews: "Here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth" (Hebrews 7:8, KJV). This certainly falls short of a commandment, but declares the acceptability of tithes by Christ in heaven itself. The spirit of Christianity has, in general, accepted the responsibility.

It is odd that one could redeem the tithe of his crops and fruit trees, but that he could not redeem the tithe of his flocks and herds. The tenth passed into the hands of the priests, which they received as an unalienable right.

In fact, it was forbidden to the person giving a tithe that he should be able to select the animals given. "He shall not search whether it be good or bad" (Leviticus 27:33). Coleman tells how the tithe was taken:

"Whatsoever passeth under the rod" (Leviticus 27:32) refers to the custom of counting animals by making them pass in a single file out of an enclosure and marking each tenth animal by a rod dipped in coloring material."[15]

The recognition of tithing as a constant obligation of God's people is here inherent in the fact that laws concerning it appear in the list of things that could not be redeemed, "from of old, belonging to the Lord and incapable of being vowed."[16]