[A] Yes, I know the stock answer to this. “Jacob’s Vow.” But what and
where was Jacob when he used this language? A sneak and a fugitive from
the just wrath of his brother. It is safe to say that never afterwards,
certainly never after he became an honest man did he speak of or regard
the payment of the Tithe as a “gift” to God. It looks as though the
Pharisee boasted of giving Tithes, but there is no use in painting him
blacker than he was. Let us hope he had in mind that he gave tithes to
the Temple service, in which case the word he used was correct. It is
unfair to charge even him with claiming that he gave Tithes to God.
So far as I recall Christ never mentioned Tithes but twice. Once He
said “Ye tithe;” in the other instance “Ye pay tithes,” and added his
approval.
[B] After the above was written, the following came to my notice
from Prof. Sayce in a late work entitled, “The Religions of Ancient
Egypt and Babylonia.” In speaking of the custom of the authorities,
he says, “A tithe of all that the land produced was theirs, and it
was rigorously exacted, for the support of the temples and priests.
Babylonia, in short, was the inventor of the tithe.”