SECT. XI.

Of TY THE S.

xxvii.

30, &c,

Of Tythes, the Law fpeaks thus; All Lev, the tythe of the land, whether of the feed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's; it is holy unto the LORD: of the herd or of the flock, even of whatfoever paffeth under the rod, the tenth fhall be holy unto the LORD. These likewise were to be the Portion of the Priests and Levites. The Tythes of the children of Ilrael, which they offer as an heave-offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have faid unto them, among the children of Ifrael they Shall have no (other) inheritance.

Numb.

xviii. 24.

ib. 31

But the Payment of Tythes, in general, was fourfold. First, that juft now mention'd, which the Priests and Levites had for their Inheritance, and might difpofe of as they pleas'd, either fell or confume where they thought fit. Secondly, that which the Levites themselves were to pay out of their Tythes, to the HighPrieft. Thus fpeak unto the Levites, and Jay unto them, When ye take of the chil- ib. 26,28,

P 3

dren

dren of Ifrael the tythes which I have giv en you, from them, for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an beave-offering of it, for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tythe: And ye shall give thereof, the LORD's beave-offering, to Aaron the Priest.

Thirdly, there was another Tything the People were to make, befides the first, out of all their Increase; which they were, yearly, to carry up to the Temple; and there, and no where else, banquet upon it, together with the Levites. Thou shalt truDeut. ly tythe all the increase of thy feed, that xiv. 22, the field bringeth forth year by year;

&c.

and thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tythe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oyl, and the firstlings of thine herds, and of thy flocks. And if the way be too long for thee, thou shalt turn it into money; and beftow that money for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for ftrong drink, or for whatsoever thy foul defireth; and thou shalt eat there, before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoyce, thou and thine boufhold; and the Levite that is within thy gates: Thou shalt not forfake him;

29.

for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. Some confound thefe Tythes with the first Sort; but they are plainly a diftinct Kind. There was a fourth Kind of Tything, mention'd likewife in the Law; in these Words: At the end of three years, thou Deut, Shalt bring forth all the tythe of thine in- xiv, 28, crease the fame year; and shalt lay it up within thy gates. And the Levite (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee) and the ftranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come and fhall eat, and be fatisfied. I take this to be the fame Tything with that mention'd just before; and that, instead of being carried to the Temple and partaken of there, every third Year, they might eat it at Home; and distribute it among the Levites, and the Poor, in their own Neighbourhood. Of the three Sorts of Tythes payable by the Laity, we have an Instance, at once, in the Apocrypha; where Tobit says; The first tenth Tob. i 7. part of all increafe, I gave to the fons of Aaron, who miniftred at Jerufalem: another tenth part I fold away, and went and spent it every year at Jerufalem: And the third, Igave unto them to whom it was meet.

At the Restoration of the true Worship of God by Hezekiah, after a Succeffion of idolatrous Kings, among other things; 2 Chron. He commanded the people that dwelt in Jexxxi. 4, rufalem,to give the portion of the Priests and

&c.

the Levites,that they might be encouraged in tho law of the LORD. And, as foon as the com, mandment came abroad,the children of Ifrael brought, in abundance, the first-fruits of corn, wine, and oyl, and honey, and of all the increase of the field, and the tythe of all things brought they in abundantly. And thofe that dwelt in the Cities of Judah brought in the tythe of Oxen and Sheep, &c. And we find the fame Resolution taken and pursued, after their Return from the 35, &c. Captivity,

Neh. x.

SEC T. XXII.

Of the facred MONEY.

Another Kind of Gift was the facred Money; which every Male, from twenty to fifty Years old, was to pay into the Numb. Treasury of the Tabernacle or Temple, by xxxi. 54. way of a Capitation Tax, for the Ufe of the Sanctuary; and this, as often as they were number'd; which, whether it were yearly,

4

yearly, or only upon special Occafions, Interpreters do not agree. The latter feems to be the more probable: for otherwise, it is likely we should meet with Inftances of the Payment of it, among the other annual Observances; which are all mention'd in fome other Parts of Scripture, as well as in the Books of the Law, The Direction for the Payment of it, runs thus: When thou takeft the fum of the children of Ifrael, after their number; then shall they Exod. give, every man a ransom for his foul, unto &c. the LORD, when thou numbereft them, that there be no plague amongst them. This they fhall give, half a shekel after the Shekel of the fanctuary (a fhekel is twenty Gerahs;) an half shekel fhall be the offering of the LORD. And thou shalt take the atonementmoney of the children of Ifrael, and shalt appoint it for the fervice of the tabernacle of the congregation.

*

XXX. 12,

This Money seems to have been paid conftantly, for fome time, in the Reign of Jeboah King of Judah; and to have been 2 Kings applied toward the Repairs of the Tem- xii.4,&c. ple: when, we are told, that Jehoiada the

Half a Shekel is about one Shilling and two pence.