Exploring the Meaning of Apodekatoo in Greek

ἀποδεκατόω means “to tithe.” It appears in Jesus’ rebukes of religious leaders, in a self-description within a parable, and in a legal description of Levitical practice.

Root and Related Words

ἀποδεκατόω (Apodekatoo) is connected with δεκατόω (dekatoo), “to tithe” (Strong’s G1183), and ἀπό (apo), “away from” (Strong’s G575).

Occurrences

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.” (Matthew 23:23)

Here the verb is set alongside a list of small garden spices—“mint, dill, and cumin”—so the act of tithing is portrayed as careful and exacting, even down to minor items. In the same breath, the accusation is that such meticulous tithing coexists with neglect of “the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith.” The word therefore functions as a concrete example of religious diligence that, in this scene, is treated as incomplete when separated from the broader moral claims named in the verse. The closing line, “you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone,” keeps the act of tithing within the scope of what is to be done, while insisting it cannot stand in for the “weightier matters.”

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.” (Luke 11:42)

This occurrence parallels the previous rebuke but with a slightly different list: “mint and rue and every herb.” Again, ἀποδεκατόω is tied to ordinary, countable plants, emphasizing the practical, everyday character of the action. The contrast is framed as a bypassing—“you bypass justice and God’s love”—so the verb contributes to a picture of scrupulous observance in one area that accompanies disregard in another. As in Matthew, the concluding sentence keeps tithing and the named ethical commitments together: the issue is not that tithing is treated as irrelevant, but that it is treated as a substitute for “justice” and “God’s love.”

“I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’” (Luke 18:12)

In this first-person statement, ἀποδεκατόω is part of a self-portrait built from repeated religious actions: “I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.” The verb here expresses an ongoing habit, presented as comprehensive (“of all that I get”), and is offered as evidence of religious standing. Within the line as quoted, tithing is paired with fasting as a defining feature of the speaker’s piety. The word’s contribution is to present tithing not merely as an occasional payment but as a regular, encompassing practice that the speaker treats as a credential.

“They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham,” (Hebrews 7:5)

Here ἀποδεκατόω is embedded in a formal description: the “sons of Levi” who “receive the priest’s office” have “a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law.” The verb is framed not as private devotion but as an authorized act connected to priestly service and commanded practice. The verse specifies the social relationship involved—tithes are taken “of their brothers”—and grounds that relationship in shared ancestry (“though these have come out of the body of Abraham”). In this context, the word contributes to an institutional and legal picture of tithing: it is something received by a recognized priestly group from the wider people, in line with a commandment.

Sense and Usage

Across these four contexts, ἀποδεκατόω consistently marks the act of giving a tithe, but the passages highlight different angles of that action. In Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42, the verb is deliberately attached to small, identifiable items—herbs and spices—so the reader sees a kind of precision that can be performed even in the details of daily life. In both sayings, that precision becomes the foil for a sharper critique: the very care that can be shown in tithing “mint” and “every herb” is contrasted with neglect or bypassing of “justice,” “mercy,” “faith,” and “God’s love.” In those scenes the verb helps articulate a moral imbalance: attentiveness in one sphere coexisting with failure in another, all within the same professed commitment to “the law.”

Luke 18:12 presents a different rhetorical function. The verb is no longer part of a direct rebuke but part of an “I” statement that lists repeated practices. The phrase “of all that I get” frames tithing as totalizing and comprehensive, at least as the speaker presents it. The verb thus becomes a tool for self-evaluation and self-presentation. Where the earlier occurrences place tithing next to neglected virtues, this one places it next to fasting as a badge of devotion.

Hebrews 7:5 places the verb in an explicitly communal and ordered setting: the taking of tithes is bound to “the priest’s office,” described as “a commandment,” and linked to kinship within a single ancestral line. The act is not merely an individual decision; it is a defined practice “according to the law,” involving a recognized group (“sons of Levi”) and those from whom tithes are taken (“the people…their brothers”). In this setting, ἀποδεκατόω communicates the structured nature of tithing and its role in the relationships within the covenant community as described in the verse.

Read together, the occurrences show that the same act can be evaluated in different ways depending on its moral and relational setting. The rebukes treat tithing as something that can be done thoroughly and yet be morally misaligned when it is detached from “justice” and “God’s love.” The parabolic self-description treats it as a regular practice that a person may cite as proof of devotion. The legal-priestly description treats it as a commanded practice carried out within a defined social order. In each case, ἀποδεκατόω anchors the discussion in a concrete, recognizable act—tithing—while the surrounding words in each verse determine whether the emphasis falls on meticulousness, self-commendation, or lawful administration.

Imagery in Context

The imagery that surrounds ἀποδεκατόω is notably tactile and everyday: herbs measured out (“mint, dill, and cumin…mint and rue and every herb”) and gains tallied (“all that I get”). Even in Hebrews 7:5, where the setting is priestly and commanded, the verb still points to the transfer of something from “the people” to those who “receive the priest’s office.” In these passages, tithing is not portrayed as an abstract intention but as an action that touches ordinary goods and public relationships, making it a fitting point of comparison when the texts speak about “justice,” “mercy,” “faith,” and “God’s love.”

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).