Found just four times in the New Testament (Mt. 23:23; Lk. 11:42; 18:12; Heb. 7:5), the Greek verb “apodekatoo” meant “tithe” or “pay a tenth.” The Old Testament system of religion given to the Jewish people taught tithing (Mt. 23:23; Lk. 11:42), and the New Testament teaches people to “give as they have been prospered” (1 Cor. 16:2). Jesus described a Pharisee as giving “tithes” of all he had received (Lk. 18:12), and notice how in some manuscripts the word is “apodekateuo,” a variant spelling of apodekatoo. In Heb. 7:5 we are reminded of how Levites were to “take tithes” of the people.