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Therefore, the first authoritative statement (in the generally received order of the
books) of the great foundation principle that a tenth of the produce of the land and of
beasts belongs to YEHOVAH, is not ushered in, as we might expect, with the solemn
preamble, "The Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the children of Israel," etc. We see this
great truth specifically mentioned for the first time at the end of Leviticus, in a
supplementary chapter regulating the making of vows and determining how far things or
animals devoted to YEHOVAH might be redeemed. Here the subject of the tithe comes
in, quite incidentally and without explanation. It is then spoken of, not for the purpose of
enjoining it as something new, or as though it were not already in use, but in order to
exclude the tithe portion from vows, and to prescribe how far and under what conditions,
like vows, tithe might be redeemed (Langes Commentary on Leviticus 27:30-33).

So again, after the rebellion of Korah in Numbers 18, when several laws are being
given concerning the priests and Levites, this FIRST TITHE is again introduced. It is
introduced not so much for its own sake, but to show how the Levites, though having no
inheritance among the tribes, are to be repaid for their labour by its appropriation to their
benefit.

Once more, when we come to Deuteronomy 14 we have a chapter regulating what
may be eaten and what may not be eaten, of beasts, fishes, and fowls; and then follow
directions concerning eating before YEHOVAH of the SECOND TITHE at an appointed
placed of worship.

Furthermore, what we are told about tithes is not only fragmentary, but it is also
incomplete. The Mosaic law, for instance, does not define particularly what seeds, fruits,
or animals are to be tithed; nor does the legislator give directions "whether the tenth is to
be paid of all newly born animals; whether it includes those newly purchased or
exchanged; whether it is payable if a man have less than ten cattle, or at what age of the
animals the tithe becomes due" (McClintock and Strong, 10, p. 434). Nor, as already
observed, does the law say whether each tithe is to be computed in reference to the
whole, or out of what remains after previous tithes have been deducted; nor, again, is it
clear whether the second tithe includes a second tenth of all animals. By way of
illustration we may observe, as a somewhat parallel case, the importation of the word
"fasting" into the Book of Common Prayer. In the prefatory matter is "A Table of the
Fasts and Days of Abstinence," also a list of the days of fasting; and in the Communion
Service the curate is directed to declare what fastings days are to be observed. But
nothing is said as to who is to fast, nor in what fasting consists, where it should be
observed, or with what accessories, nor why or how, but only when. Just, then, as these
minutiae, when the first English Prayer Book was issued, were well known and
understood, and were taken so to be; so, presumably, the less needed to be said by the
writer of the Pentateuch about the particulars connected with tithing, because the people
were familiar with the custom as descended from their forefathers.

The law concerning tithe, then, in general has in one respect a close resemblance
to the law concerning the Sabbath. When YEHOVAH promulgated the Decalogue as a
statute or written law, He said, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy," thereby