ABSTRACT
The Torah contains different pictures of how to offer the tithe. These differences are normally explained by recourse to a source-critical reconstruction of the Torah’s composition. But for post-biblical Jewish readers differences such as these have been harmonized into a single system. One of those harmonizations, found in the Mishnah, presumes that there were three different tithes that the Israelites had to offer during a seven-year cycle (as in Deut 15, A5 ). The “first tithe” was given to the Levites who in turn gave a tithe to the priests (Num 18); this tithe was given every year but the seventh. The “second tithe” was converted into money, which was then carried to Jerusalem where supplies would be purchased for celebrating one of the pilgrimage festivals (Deut 14:22–27). This was done during years one, two, four, and five. The “third tithe” (Deut 14:28–29) was given to the poor during years three and six.
