either following in the footsteps of Abraham or borrowing a practice from the surrounding nations.42 Jacob’s “ifs” in the contract detract from this being a universal law. It is doubtful that Jacob would have put a condition on something he believed to be a law from God.43 The evidence from the period prior to the Mosaic Law suggests that no system of tithing was in place. No command to tithe is recorded, and thus the evidence that any systematic tithing existed prior to the giving of