Matthew 23:23; "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
MATTHEW 23:23 BREAKDOWN PHRASE BY PHRASE, FIVE PARTS...
>> ONE...
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"
Target audience; hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. Ergo; Israelis under the Law and Commandments of Moses during the time of the Law, not the New Testament Church which was not in existence at the time Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees. Under the New Testament, the Law of Moses, including any command to tithe, is discontinued; Hebrews 7:18 - "For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof." Acts 15:24 - "Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:"
>> TWO...
"for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin,"
Jesus confirms that the holy tithe was agricultural products being tithed on, not money from income; Agricultural products; Nehemiah 10:38, Lev. 27:30, 32, Num. 18:27, Num. 18:28, Deut 12:17, Deut. 14:22, Deut. 14:23, Deut. 24:21, Deut. 26:12, 2 Chron. 31:5, 2 Chron. 31:6, Neh. 10:37, Neh. 13:5, Mal. 3:10, Matt. 23:23, Luke 11:42.
>> THREE...
"and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith:"
Deuteronomy 27:26 - "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen." James 2:10 - "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Galatians 5:3 - "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised [i.e., keeping the Law of Moses], that he is a debtor to do the whole law."
>> FOUR...
"these ought ye to have done,"
Jesus confirms that YES they should be tithing, as they were doing at that time being under the Law of Moses, but the church is NOT Israel, and the church is NOT under the Law of Moses. See; Malachi 3:7, Malachi 4:4, Hebrews 7:5, AND; Acts 15:24 - "Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave NO such commandment:"
Romans 6:14-15 - "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."
>> FIVE...
"and not to leave the other undone."
Jesus corrected their lack of observing and not obeying the more important matters of the Law such as judgment, mercy, and faith;
Mercy; Exodus 33:19 - "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy." Leviticus 19:18 - "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD."
Judgment; Exodus 18:16 - "When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws."
Faith; Leviticus 18:5 - "Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD." James 2:17 - "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."
CONCLUSION
Jesus' words in Matthew 23:23 are not a commandment to the New Testament Church to hand over ten percent of their income to a church or minister. Jesus was addressing the legalistic hypocritical tithing practices of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus went on to say to them the following;
Matthew 23:24-28 - "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." ...ETC.
This strong rebuke in Matthew 23:24-28, etc, was to the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees of Israel. If Matthew 23:23 is directed to the New Testament Church, why isn't Matthew 23:24-28 also directed to the New Testament Church?
Clearly it is not. Matthew 23:23 is not a call or commandment for "Christian tithing."
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 2026, Anthony Todd, All rights reserved. Permission to copy and distribute this article must be obtained in writing from Tithing Study Online.
Permission can be requested at: tithingstudyonline@gmail.com. Upon permission to do so, it is granted under the strict condition that no content of any article be removed or altered, and that all articles are to remain intact as is when used. You must include a notation that any article distributed originated from Tithing Study Online, and include our blog URL as: https://ExaminingTithingDeceptions.blogspot.com - Permission to copy for personal use only is hereby granted.
