Tithing Is Not Commanded of Christians in Scripture

Tithing is overwhelmingly misunderstood in modern western evangelical and Protestant churches. The Bible teaches the tithe only as an Israelite/Jewish command, and under scrutiny of both biblical and non-biblical writings of the Jews and the early church, the practice does not resemble the “tithe” preached today. Tithing was God’s command to the Israelites and has nothing to do with Christian / New Testament believers. The apostolic writers spoke instead of “giving cheerfully, as each one purposes in his heart” and of “sharing all your possessions with the poor.” The idea that a tithe was required of Christians by God was imported into the church in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, when bishops began consolidating power and making full-time vocations of church office.

Contents

1. What the Bible Actually Teaches About the Tithe
2. What the Bible Does Not Say: No Command for Christians to Tithe
3. What the Early Church Fathers Believed About Tithing
4. What Modern (and Ancient) Jews Believe About Tithing
5. Scriptures Used to Defend a Christian Tithe — and Why They Don’t
6. Summary

1. What the Bible Actually Teaches About the Tithe

Scripture is consistent: the tithe is a tenth of the produce of the land of Israel and the increase of the herd and flock, given to support the Levitical priesthood (who had no land inheritance), the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. It was an agricultural, land-based command tied to the Mosaic covenant and the tabernacle/temple system — not a monetary tax on income.

Genesis 14:16–20 — Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils of war

16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. 17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

This was a one-time, voluntary gift from the spoils of battle — not from Abraham’s personal wealth, income, or possessions, and not a repeated practice. It is never presented as a command to Abraham or to anyone after him.

Leviticus 27:30–33 — The tithe defined: seed, fruit, herd, flock

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD. 31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. 33 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 the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

The biblical tithe is food — crops and livestock from the land of Israel. It is never money, never wages, never the income of craftsmen, merchants, or wage-earners.

Numbers 18:21–32 — The tithe is given to the Levites for their service

21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation… 24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit… 26 …When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.

The tithe existed to support the Levites — the tribe with no land inheritance — and the Levites in turn tithed to the priests. The Christian church has no Levitical priesthood, so the mechanism the tithe served no longer exists.

Deuteronomy 14:22–29 — How the tithe was eaten and shared

22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. 23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God… the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks… 26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice… 28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: 29 And the Levite… and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow… shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied…

A large portion of the tithe was eaten by the giver himself in a feast before the LORD, including wine and strong drink. Every third year it was stored locally to feed the poor. This bears no resemblance to writing a check to a clergy salary.

2. What the Bible Does Not Say: There Is No Command for Christians to Tithe

The New Testament never commands Christians to tithe. Jesus never commanded a Gentile to tithe. The apostles never instructed any church — Jew or Gentile — to bring a tenth. What the New Testament does teach is cheerful, voluntary giving proportionate to what a believer purposes in his own heart, and the sharing of possessions with those in need.

2 Corinthians 9:6–8 — Each man, as he purposes in his heart

6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

The apostolic standard for Christian giving is explicit: each believer gives as he purposes in his heart, not by fixed percentage, and never grudgingly or out of necessity (compulsion). A required 10% violates the very principle Paul lays down.

Hebrews 7:12, 18–19 — The change of the priesthood requires a change of the law

12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law… 18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

The author of Hebrews explicitly says the old commandment — including the tithe ordinance that supported the Levitical priesthood — has been disannulled. With the Levitical priesthood set aside in Christ, its supporting tithe-law is set aside as well.

Silence of the Apostles

Across all 21 New Testament epistles — Romans, the Corinthian letters, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, the Thessalonians, the Pastorals, Hebrews, James, Peter, John, Jude — there is not a single instruction to tithe. When Paul takes a collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16, 2 Cor. 8–9) he never invokes the tithe. The apostolic silence is itself decisive.

3. What the Early Church Fathers Believed About Tithing

The pre-Nicene writers (before A.D. 325) whose works survive — Clement of Rome, Mathetes, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin, the Pastor of Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus of Antioch, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Commodianus, Origen, Hippolytus, Caius, and Novatian — do not teach an enforced Christian tithe. Where they speak of giving, they describe free, voluntary support of the poor, widows, orphans, prisoners, and traveling teachers. Cyprian (mid-3rd century) is the first influential bishop to push (unsuccessfully at the time) for tithes to fund a full-time clergy.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book IV, ch. XIII.3 (c. 175–185 A.D.)

“And for this reason did the Lord, instead of that [commandment], ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ forbid even concupiscence; and instead of that which runs thus, ‘You shall not kill,’ He prohibited anger; and instead of the law enjoining the giving of tithes, to share all our possessions with the poor; and not to love our neighbors only, but even our enemies; and not merely to be liberal givers and bestowers, but even that we should present a gratuitous gift to those who take away our goods.”

Irenaeus says explicitly that the Lord replaced the tithe commandment with the practice of sharing all possessions with the poor. He contrasts the old tithe with the new Christian standard.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book IV, ch. XVIII.2

“…for this reason they [the Jews] had indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord’s purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely not the less valuable portions of their property… as that poor widow acted who cast all her living into the treasury of God.”

Again Irenaeus contrasts Jews under tithe with Christians in liberty. He sees the tithe as a Jewish institution and Christian giving as something different in kind, not merely in amount.

Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch. LXVII (c. 150–160 A.D.)

“…And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place… And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.”

Justin’s eyewitness description of mid-2nd-century Christian worship mentions no tithe. Giving was voluntary (“willing… what each thinks fit”) and went directly to the poor and needy, not to clergy salaries.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, ch. XI

“Now, law placed against law has abrogated that which is before it, and a covenant which comes after in like manner has put an end to the previous one; and an eternal and final law — namely, Christ — has been given to us, and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there shall be no law, no commandment, no ordinance.”

Justin frames the Mosaic system — tithe included — as abrogated by Christ. He has no place for transferring tithe-law onto the church.

Didache (Teaching of the Twelve), chs. XI–XIII (c. 150–200 A.D.)

Ch. XI: “…let every apostle that comes to you be received as the Lord… if he asks for money, he is a false prophet… whosoever shall say in spirit, ‘Give me money, or other things,’ you shall not listen to him.”

Ch. XII: “If he wishes to abide with you, being a craftsman, let him work and eat. If he has no craft, use your common sense to provide that he lives with you as a Christian, without idleness. If he is unwilling to do so, he is a ‘Christ-monger.’”

Ch. XIII: “But every true prophet that desires to abide with you is ‘worthy of his food.’… Therefore you shall take and give to the prophets every firstfruits of the produce of the wine-press and the threshing floor, of oxen and sheep… If you have no prophet, give them to the poor.”

The earliest known Christian church order treats anyone who demands money as a false prophet. Itinerant teachers either work for their living or receive firstfruits (food) — not tithes — and any surplus goes to the poor.

Tertullian, Apology XXXIX (c. 197 A.D.)

“Our presidents are elders of proved worth, men who have attained this honor not for a price, but by character. Every man brings some modest coin once a month or whenever he wishes, and only if he is willing and able; it is a freewill offering. You might call them the trust-funds of piety; they are spent… on the support and burial of the poor…”

In Tertullian’s congregation giving is monthly, modest, voluntary, and discretionary, and the funds support the poor — not a salaried clergy. This is the opposite of a required 10% tithe.

Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200–258 A.D.)

Cyprian was the first influential bishop to argue (unsuccessfully in his own day) that tithes should support a full-time clergy. By his time the church had already begun comparing the bishop to the Old Testament high priest, the presbyters to the priests, and the deacons to the Levites — a category-confusion Cyprian extended by demanding tithes to match. This is a 3rd-century innovation, not apostolic teaching.

Reference works confirming the historical timeline

Encyclopedia Americana: “It [tithing] was not practiced in the early Christian church, but gradually became common by the 6th century.”

Catholic Encyclopedia (1912): “In the beginning [provision] was supplied by the spontaneous support of the faithful… The payment of tithes was adopted from the Old Law… The earliest positive legislation on the subject seems to be contained in the letter of the bishops assembled at Tours in 567 and the Canons of the Council of Macon in 585.”

Even Catholic and secular reference works confirm that compulsory Christian tithing is a medieval development, not an apostolic practice — first appearing in regional church legislation in the late 6th century, more than 500 years after Christ.

4. What Modern (and Ancient) Jews Believe About Tithing

The Jewish tradition that shaped the apostles themselves understood the tithe in ways that flatly contradict the modern preacher’s “10% of your paycheck.” The historian Alfred Edersheim, an authority on Second-Temple Judaism, summarized the rabbinic understanding as follows.

1. Tithes did not apply to crafts or trades. “And it is remarkable, that the law seems to regard Israel as intended to be only an agricultural people — no contribution being provided for from trade or merchandise.”
2. Proper tithes could only come from the holy land of Israel — not from Jewish (or Gentile) communities elsewhere.
3. Most Jews considered it a sin to make a profit from teaching the Law. “It was regarded as a profanation — or at least declared such — to make use of one’s learning for secular purposes, whether of gain or of honor. The great Hillel had it (Ab. I.13): ‘He who serves himself by the crown [the Torah] shall fade away.’”
4. Rabbis — including Paul — were not expected to earn a living from teaching the Law. “With few exceptions, all the leading Rabbinical authorities were working at some trade, till at last it became quite an affectation to engage in hard bodily labor…”
5. Honest labor was a cherished virtue. “This same love of honest labor, the same spirit of manly independence, the same horror of trafficking with the law, and using it either as a ‘crown or as a spade,’ was certainly characteristic of the best Rabbis.”

This is the world Paul came out of. When he tells the Thessalonians “we wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you” (2 Thess. 3:8), he is acting like a good rabbi: refusing to live off the people he teaches. The idea that the tithe should fund a professional Christian ministry would have been unrecognizable to the apostles themselves. Note also that the tithe was never required of trades and crafts — only of agricultural produce from the land of Israel — so applying a 10% tax to a modern wage-earner has no basis even in the Jewish system it claims to come from.

5. Scriptures Commonly Used to Defend a Christian Tithe — and Why They Don’t

A handful of passages are pulled out of context to justify tithing today. When read in context, every one of them either does not teach tithing at all or actively undercuts the modern doctrine.

Malachi 3:8–10 — “Will a man rob God?”

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing…

This is addressed to Israel under the Mosaic covenant, and specifically to the priests — the prior chapter (Malachi 1) makes clear that the priests themselves were defiling the altar and embezzling the tithe. It was never written to New Testament Christians. To apply a curse spoken to corrupt Jewish priests as a threat against modern believers is a serious misuse of the text. Christ has fulfilled the law, and He never commanded any person to tithe.

Hebrews 7 — The Melchizedek argument

18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did… 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice… for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

Hebrews 7 is often quoted to prove a pre-Mosaic tithe principle (Abraham to Melchizedek). But the chapter’s actual argument is the opposite: the Levitical priesthood — and therefore the tithe-commandment that supported it — has been disannulled because of its weakness and unprofitableness. Jesus is our perfect high priest forever; He needs no recurring sacrifices and no tithes.

Matthew 23:23 — “Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin”

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

This is not a command to tithe; it is a rebuke of Jewish religious leaders for obsessing over a minor point of the Mosaic Law while ignoring its weightier matters. Jesus is speaking to people still under the Sinai covenant. Even within that covenant He places tithing among the lesser matters. He never extends the practice to Gentiles or to His disciples.

Mark 12:14–17 — “Render unto Caesar”

14 Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give?… 16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

Jesus says nothing about tithing here. He is disarming a political trap. If anything, the point cuts the other way: Caesar’s image is on the coin, but God’s image is on the human being — so we owe God ourselves, not a percentage. There is no tithe taught or implied in this passage.

1 Timothy 6:10 — “The love of money is the root of all evil”

Sometimes invoked from the pulpit to shame parishioners into giving, this verse has nothing to do with tithing. It is a warning against greed — ironically, a warning that applies more obviously to a clergy that demands a fixed percentage of every member’s income than to the member who declines to pay it.

Summary

The biblical tithe was a specific, agricultural, Israel-only ordinance that supported a Levitical priesthood which no longer exists. The New Testament never commands Christians to tithe. The earliest Christian writers describe voluntary, modest, conscience-driven giving for the poor — not a 10% clergy tax. Jewish tradition itself confirms that tithes did not apply to wages, crafts, or trades, and that teachers of the Law were not expected to live off their teaching. Compulsory Christian tithing did not appear in church law until the 6th century. The verses commonly used to revive it today are, on inspection, either addressed to ancient Israel, used as rebukes, or silent on tithing altogether.

Christians are called to something at once freer and more demanding than a tithe: to give cheerfully, as they purpose in their hearts, and to share all they have with those in need.