What is the Levite tithe to Kohanim?

Numbers 18:26: when the Levites received their tithe from Israel, they gave one-tenth of that to the Kohanim. The Levites received ten percent of all Israel's produce and gave one percent (ten percent of ten percent) to the priestly family.

What did Nehemiah's community commit regarding this tithe?

Nehemiah 10:38-39: the restored community explicitly committed to the entire tithe chain including the Levite-to-Kohen portion, showing they understood this commandment as essential to the Temple service's functioning.

What quality was required of the Levites' tithe to the Kohanim?

Numbers 18:29: "the best of it, even the hallowed part thereof." Even within the receiving-giving chain, quality mattered. The Levites gave the best of what they had received.

What principle does this commandment establish?

Luke 12:48: "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." The Levite tithe commandment institutionalized this: those who receive more give more. Receiving the community's tithe obligated the Levites rather than exempting them.

Commandment #70 · Positive · Agricultural Laws

Levites Give a Tithe of Their Tithe to the Kohanim

תְּרוּמַת מַעֲשֵׂר

Source: Numbers 18:26 · Maimonides, Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive #70

Numbers 18:26: when the Levites received their tithe from Israel, they gave a tenth of that to the Kohanim. Every link in the chain gave and every link received. No position in the covenant community exempted from the giving obligation.

וְהֵרֵמֹתֶם מִמֶּנּוּ תְּרוּמַת יְהוָה מַעֲשֵׂר מִן הַמַּעֲשֵׂר

"Then ye shall offer up a heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe."

Numbers 18:26 — Open in Torah Reader

The Chain of Giving: No Exempt Recipients

The structure was elegant and demanding: the Israelite farmer gave a tenth to the Levite; the Levite gave a tenth of that to the Kohen. No position in the covenant community created exemption from giving. Even those who received the community's support had their own giving obligation.

Numbers 18:29: the Levites' portion to the Kohanim had to be 'the best of it, even the hallowed part thereof.' Even within the receiving-and-giving chain, quality mattered. The Levites gave the best of what they had received.

Nehemiah's Explicit Commitment

וְהֵבִיאוּ אֶת מַעְשַׂר הַמַּעֲשְׂרוֹת לְבֵית אֱלֹהֵינוּ

"The Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God."

Nehemiah 10:39

Nehemiah 10:38-39: 'And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers.' The returned exiles explicitly committed to the entire tithe chain, including this secondary tithe. They had learned from exile what happened when any link in the chain broke.

The Principle: Receivers Are Also Givers

The Levite-to-Kohen tithe established a universal principle: those who receive from the community's provision are not exempt from their own giving obligations. Luke 12:48: 'unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.' The tithe chain institutionalized this: those who receive more give more.

Key Figures

The Levites — Both Recipients and Givers

Their position in the tithe chain shows that receiving the community's provision did not exempt them from their own covenant obligations.

Nehemiah's Restored Community — The Explicit Committors

Their covenant renewal explicitly named the Levite-to-Kohen tithe, showing they understood this as part of the essential structure.

Study Questions

For reflection and group study

The Levites received a tithe and gave a tithe from it. What does a chain of giving — where every recipient is also an obligated giver — say about covenant community vs. benefactor-recipient models?

See Num 18:26–28; 2 Cor 9:6–7; Luke 12:48

No one in the covenant community was exempt from giving — even those supported by others' tithes. What does universal giving obligation say about the nature of covenant community?

See Num 18:26; Neh 10:38–39; Acts 4:32–35

Even within the receiving-giving chain, the Levites had to give 'the best of it.' What does the requirement to give the best of received tithe rather than the remainder say about the theology of giving?

See Num 18:29; Mal 1:8; Luke 21:1–4

Nehemiah explicitly committed the post-exilic community to maintaining the Levite-to-Kohen tithe chain. Why would a restored community specifically commit to this secondary tithe?

See Neh 10:38–39; 13:10–12; Ezra 7:10

The chain ran: Israelite farmer > Levite > Kohen > God's house. What does a multi-step distribution chain accomplish that direct giving from farmer to Temple could not?

See Num 18:21–29; Heb 7:9; Eph 4:7–11

Read this commandment in the original Hebrew.

Open Numbers 18:26 in Torah Reader

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