Numbers 18:21-24

The Levites" dues. These consisted in tithe levied on agricultural produce only (cf. Numbers 18:27; Numbers 18:30).

This was similarly assigned to the Levitical priests in the earlier law contained in Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Deuteronomy 26:12-15. But the present regulation is in advance of that in Dt. in that it assigns the tithe to the Levites absolutely. According to Dt. the Levite shared it, in two years out of three, with the offerer and his household, and in the third year with the poor -sojourners, widows, and orphans." This variety led in post-Biblical times to the imposition of twotithes (cf. Tob 1:7 ff.). In Leviticus 27:30-33; 2 Chronicles 31:6 (which are probably later than the present passage) mention is made of a fresh demand, viz. a tithe on cattle, which is found nowhere else in the O.T. In early days the -clergy" were poor and humble persons who needed support from the charity of the rich. The contributions paid to them were at first small, and probably variable; the officials at the important sanctuaries, for example, would receive larger dues than those in country villages. But when, after the Exile, the priests and Levites advanced to a high position in the community, their demands gradually increased, until they became the grasping and avaricious rulers that we see in the Ḥasmoneans and the Sadducees.

In Hebrews 7:5 the payment of tithes by Israel is part of the argument that the Aaronic priesthood is inferior to that of Christ.