מַעֲשֵׂר
tithe
‘tithe’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
2 verses where H4643 appears in the Construct state in the Book of Numbers. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Numbers
- Numbers 18:24 מַעְשַׂ֣ר n c ms cs For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave-offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance: therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
- Numbers 18:28 מַעְשְׂרֹ֣תֵי/כֶ֔ם n c mp cs + sfx pers 2mp Thus you also shall offer a heave-offering to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give Yahweh's heave-offering to Aaron the priest.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
מעשר (maʻăsêr) is a Hebrew noun most often rendered “tithe.” Translators differ — “tithes” in the King James Version, then “tithe of” (unfoldingWord Literal Text), as the renderings breakdown shows. It turns up in 27 verses across 9 books, a moderately common footprint. It first appears in Genesis 14:20. It is not a single-sense word — see its full sense range. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4643 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 27
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 27 distinct verses.
- 9 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 9 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,086
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,086 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 27 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Deuteronomy 6 verses 22%
- Nehemiah 5 verses 19%
- Numbers 4 verses 15%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 27 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 14 verses · 52%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 8 verses · 30%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 5 verses · 19%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Tithes 11×, Tithe 7×, All the tithe 2×
- American Standard Version: Tithe 11×, Tithes 8×, All the tithe 4×
- Berean Standard Bible: Tithe 11×, Tenth 10×, Tithes 10×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Tithe of 13×, Tithe 9×, Tithes 5×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4643 across 32 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 12 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4643 across 31 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4643 across 32 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4643 across 32 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 2 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. tenth part of ḥomer Ez 45:11, of bath v 14. e.g. Ezekiel 45:11
- 2. tithe, payment of tenth part: c. מִן rei Gn 14:20 Nu 18:26; usually cstr. bef. n. rei Dt 12:17; 14:23, 28; 26:12; Lv 27:30, 32; 2 Ch 31:5, 6(×2;) Ne 10:38, 39; 13:5, 12; abs. Nu 18:21, 26(×2;) Mal 3:8, 10; 2 Ch 31:12; Ne 10:39; 12:44; שְׁנַת הַמּ׳ Dt 26:12 the year of the tithe (i.e. of tithing); c. genit. pers. paying tithe Am 4:4 Dt 12:6, 11; Lv 27:31; Nu 18:24, 28.—Cf. RSSem. i. 228 ff.; 2nd ed. 245 ff.; Proph. Lect. ii. N. NowArch. i. 313; ii. 257 f. BenzArch. 309, 460 f. DrDt.168 ff. e.g. Genesis 14:20
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.m. Nu 18:28 tenth part, tithe;—abs. מ׳ Nu 18:26 +; cstr. מַעְשַׂר Lv 27:30 +, מַעֲשַׂר Ne 10:39 (bef. הַמַּעֲשֵׂר); sf. מַעַשְׂרוֹ Lv 27:31; pl. abs. מַעַשְׂרוֹת Ne 12:44; sf. מַעְשְׂרֹתֵיכֶם Am 4:4 + 3 times;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from עשר (ʻâsâr) (H6240) — teen.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
מַעֲשֵׂר
- tithe.—תרומת מ׳ the tithe of the tithe which the Levite owes to the priest (Num. XVIII, 26); מ׳ or מ׳ ראשון the first tithe belonging to the Levite; מ׳ שני the second tithe to be consumed by the owner in Jerusalem (Deut. XIV, 22, sq.); מ׳ עני the poor man’s tithe, every third year (ib. XXVI, 12). Maas. Sh. V, 6; a. v. fr.—Pl. (מַעְשְׂרוֹת) מַעַשְׂרוֹת. Maasr. I, 1 חייב במ׳ is subject to tithes; a. v. fr.—Maʿasroth, Maʿăser Sheni, respective names of two treatises of Mishnah, Tosefta and Talmud Y’rushalmi, of the Order of Z’raim. e.g. Numbers 18:26
עוֹשֶׁר
- plenty, wealth, riches. Ab. IV, 9, v. עִוֹנִי. B. Bath. 9ᵇ בעלי ע׳ wealthy men; a. e.—Gen. R. s. 63 (play on ויעתר, Gen. XXV, 21; cmp. עוּתְרָא) שפך תפלות בע׳ he poured out prayers plentifully; Yalk. ib. 110 כעתר (corr. acc., or בְּעֶתֶר, a Hebr. adapt. of עוֹתַר). e.g. Genesis 25:21
עָשַׁר
- (cmp. עֲשַׁן) to be strong, substantial, wealthy.
- 1. (denom. of (denom. of עָשִׁיר) to become wealthy. B. Bath. 25ᵇ ושיַעֲשִׁיר and he who desires to become rich. Ber. 33ᵃ הֶעֱשִׁירוּ קבעוה וכ׳ when they became wealthy, they made it a custom to recite the Habdalah over a cup. Meïl. 17ᵃ, v. עָנָה II, Hif. Ned. 38ᵃ לא ה׳ משה וכ׳ Moses became rich from the chips of the tablets; a. fr.
- 2. to make rich. Keth. 48ᵃ לאו כל הימנו שיעשיר וכ׳ he is not permitted to enrich his children and throw himself on the charities. Ḥull. 84ᵇ (expl. עשתרת, Deut. VII, 13) שמַעֲשִׁירוֹת את בעליהן Ar. (ed. שמְעַשְּׁרוֹת, Pi.) for they make their owners rich; Yalk. Deut. 848 שמעשרות. Cant. R. to VII, 11 (ref. to תעשרנה, Ps. LXV, 10) אם זכיתם תַּעֲשִׁיֶרנָּה ואם לאו תְּעַשְּׂרֶנָּה וכ׳ if you deserve well (it reads:) ‘thou makest her rich’, if not, ‘thou reducest her to one-tenth’, that she yield you only one-tenth; a. e. e.g. Deuteronomy 7:13
- same; v. supra. B. Bath. l. c., v. infra.
- 1. to become rich. Sabb. 119ᵃ; Taan. 9ᵃ (play on עשר תעשר, Deut. XIV, 22) עַשֵּׂר בשביל שתִּתְעַשֵּׂר give tithes in order that thou become rich. B. Bath. l. c. מתוך שמתחכם מִתְעַשֵּׁר for when he grows wise, he will also grow rich; (Ms. M. חכמתו מְעַשַּׁרְתּוֹ his wisdom makes him rich). Pes. 50ᵇ עשרים … שלא יִתְעַשְּׁרוּ שאילמלי מִתְעַשְּׁרִין וכ׳ the men of the Great Assembly held twenty-four fasts to pray that the copyists of sacred books &c. might not become rich, for if they grew rich, they would not write; a. fr.—[2) (b. h.) to pretend to be rich, to pass for a rich man. Men. 85ᵇ. Midr. Till. to Ps. XXIV.] e.g. Deuteronomy 14:22
עֲשַׁר
- ch. same (mostly עֲתַר).
- to become rich. Gitt. 30ᵇ, v. אֲשַׁר.
עשֶׁר
- , v. עוֹשֶׁר
עֶשֶׂר
- (b. h.) ten. Ab. V, 1, v. מַאֲמָר. Ex. R. s. 15, a. fr. עשר מכות (not עשרה) the ten Egyptian plagues. Ib. ע׳ אנשים ten men; a. v. fr.—In compounds עָשָׂר, עֶשְׂרֵה, as אַחַד ע׳ eleven, שְׁנֵים ע׳ twelve &c. R. Hash. I, 1 בחמשה ע׳ בו on the fifteenth day of it (the month of Shebat). Pes. I, 1 אור לארבעה ע׳, v. אוֹר II; a. v. fr.—Pl. עֶשְׂרִים twenty. B. Bath. 107ᵃ ואחד אומר בע׳ and one of the experts says, it is worth twenty (Selaim). Ab. V, 21 בן ע׳ לרריף at the age of twenty years it is time to hunt (for a living); a. v. fr.
עֲשַׂר I
- (also עֲסַר; עַסְרָא) ch. same. Targ. Gen. XLV, 23 (Y. also עֶשֶׂר; O. ed. Berl. עש׳, oth. ed. עס׳); a. fr.—חַד עֲשַׂר, חַד עֲסַר (contr. חַדְסַר) eleven; תרתי סרי twelve &c.—Pl. עַשְׂרִין, עַסְרִין, עֶ׳. Targ. Gen. XXXI, 38. Targ. Num. X, 11 בע׳ on the twentieth; a. fr.—B. Bath. 106ᵇ הויא ע׳ גריוי it contains twenty g’rivas (v. גְּרִיוָא); a. fr.
עָשַׂר
- , Pi. עִשֵּׂר (b. h.;
- 1. to give one-tenth, separate tithes. Sabb. 119ᵃ עַשִּׁר וכ׳, v. עָשַׁר. Maasr. IV, 2 ושכחו לעַשְּׂרָן but had forgotten to pay the tithe of them. Sabb. II, 7 עִשַּׂרְתֶּם have you set aside tithes (of what you intend to use for the Sabbath)? Ib. ספק … אין מְעַשְּׂרִין את הודאי if it is doubtful whether or not night has set in, you must not separate the tithes of what is sure to be subject to tithes (v. דְּמַאי); a. v. fr.—Part. pass. מְעוּשָּׂר; f. מְעוּשֶּׂרֶת; pl. מְעוּשָּׂרִים, מְעוּשָּׂרִין; מְעוּשָּׂרוֹת. Bekh. IX, 7 (קפץ אחד) מן המע׳ לתוכן if one of those (lambs) which have been set aside as tithe, leaped among the flock. Ib. הרי אלו מע׳ they (the flock) are considered as tithed; a. fr.
- 2. to reduce to one-tenth. Cant. R. to VII, 11, v. עָשַׁר.
- , Nithpa. נִתְעַשֵּׂר to be tithed. Maasr. l. c. עד שיֵעָשְׂרוּ (Ms. M. שיִתְעַשְּׂרוּ) until they are tithed. Ib. 5 מִתְעַשֶּׂרֶת זרע וכ׳ must be tithed as seed, as vegetables (if the leaves are used) &c. Bekh. IX, 1 ואינן מִתְעַשְּׂרִים מזה על זה and they (large cattle and small cattle) cannot be tithed one for the other. Ib. 53ᵇ אין דין שיִתְעַשְּׂרוּ זה מזה should we not conclude that they may be tithed one for the other?; a. fr.
עֲשַׂר II
- Pa. עַשֵּׂר, עַסֵּר same, to tithe. Targ. Deut. XIV, 22. Ib. XXVI, 12 (Y. II למַעַשְׂרָא Af.).—Yeb. 93ᵃ ע׳ מפירי דביתיה עילויהו he set aside as tithes from the produces in his house on behalf of those (that were to come in). Ib. לעַשּׂוּרֵי ומיכל as regards tithing and eating; a. e.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 24 distinct written forms H4643 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 22 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 27 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 14:20
- Leviticus 27:30
- Numbers 18:21
- Deuteronomy 12:6
- 2 Chronicles 31:5
- Ezekiel 45:11
- Amos 4:4
- Malachi 3:8
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
