28:22 the tenth. This is the second reference to tithing in the Bible. Abraham had given tithes to Melchizedek, as God’s priest (Genesis 14:20), and Jacob evidently intended to do the same, although it is not clear at this stage in history just how this could be done, since the Aaronic priesthood had not yet been established. Jacob had built an altar here at Bethel (“the house of God”) as his first effort in this direction.