Partakers of the altar

1 Cor. 9:13 Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar?

In the context of this discussion, Paul here refers to the pagan temples. They illustrate that those involved in religious work should be sustained by that work. Chapter 8 contains a lengthy dialogue about eating food offered to idols. Verse 10 refers to those who dine in an idol’s temple. The priests of Israel also ate at the altar; however, in the context of this discussion, he refers to pagan practices.

In chapter 10, Paul refers to the Israelite temple practices in his discussion of the Lord’s supper:

18 “See Israel according to the flesh! are not those eating the sacrifices in the fellowship of the altar?
19 what then do I say? that an idol is anything? or that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything? —
20 no, but that the things that the nations sacrifice — they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not wish you to come into the fellowship of the demons.”

In this passage, he is clearly referring to the Jewish temple because he says so. The passage in chapter 9 simply refers to the temple. In chapter 8 an idol’s temple [1493] is specifically mentioned. 1493 is used only once in the NT in this passage

The word translated “temple [2413]“ usually refers to the Jewish temple; however, it can refer to pagan temples when that is the point of the discussion. Pagan temples are rarely mentioned in the NT. The word is used to refer to the temple of Diana in Acts:

Acts 19:27 "Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple <2413> of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence."

Tithing in the Torah

The first mention of tithe in Scripture is here:

Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." He[Abraham]gave him [Melchisedec] a tenth <04643> of all.

The next mention is here:

Genesis 28:22 "This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will surely <06237> give <06237> a tenth <06237> to You."

There is no record of Jacob actually giving a tithe. Nor does Scripture say how he might pay it. In the case of Abraham, Melchisedec received tithe from Abraham. In the case of Jacob, no illustration or explanation is given.

There is no mention of tithe in the book of Exodus. Leviticus 27 contains instruction regarding tithe:

Leviticus 27:30 ‘Thus all the tithe <04643> of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S; it is holy to the LORD.

Leviticus 27:31 ‘If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe <04643>, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.

Leviticus 27:32 ‘For every tenth <04643> part <04643> of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.

According to Numbers 18, the work related to the sanctuary was to be done by two different groups of people, the priests and the Levites. The priests were comprised entirely of Aaron's family. The Levites were made up of the tribe of Levi:

1 ¶ So the LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.

2 "But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

3 "And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

Aaron and his sons received various offerings of the people as their own. Wave offerings, the firstfruits of the grain wine and oil were for the priests. The grain, guilt and sin offerings belonged to the priests:

9 "This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even every grain offering and every sin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

10 "As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

11 "This also is yours, the offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.

The offerings of the firstborn belonged to the priests. The people could redeem these items for five shekels. In this case redeem means that they could essentially buy back from the priests the firstborn of animals and children The firstborn of an ox,sheep, or goat could not be redeemed. They must be sacrificed; however,the priests were allowed the meat of those sacrifices:

Numbers 18:15 "Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

16 "As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

17"But the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the LORD.

18 "Their meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh.

The priests lived off of the offerings and the money given in exchange for offerings [redemption money]. The Levites were supported by tithe and required to pay a tithe of the the tithe. The Levites gave a tithe of their tithe to the priests:

Numbers 18:26 "Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.

27 ‘Your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat.

28 ‘So you shall also present an offering to the LORD from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the LORD’S offering to Aaron the priest.

29 ‘Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the LORD, from all the best of them, the sacred part from them.’

30 "You shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat.

31 ‘You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting.

32 ‘You will bear no sin by reason of it when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.’"

Deuteronomy 14 contains a reference to the eating of tithe at the place of the Lord’s own choosing:

22 ¶ Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field.

23 In the presence of the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

24 But if, when the LORD your God has blessed you, the distance is so great that you are unable to transport it, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to set his name is too far away from you,

25 then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the LORD your God will choose;

26 spend the money for whatever you wish—oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household rejoicing together.

Every third year the tithe was shared with numerous individuals:

Deut. 14:27 As for the Levites resident in your towns, do not neglect them, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you.

28 Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your produce for that year, and store it within your towns;

29 the Levites, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you, as well as the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, may come and eat their fill so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work that you undertake.