The tithe is an exchange to relieve the Levites of their claim to their proper portion of the land. Instead of getting their patrimony in real estate, they took it in income and got a ten percent portion of the GNP.
The Chumash represents sheviit as posing no burden on the people. The conceit is that God will provide a surplus in the sixth year to cover the seventh and eighth years of consumption. The defrayal for the interruption of productive enterprise will come out of increases in the future yields of the nation. It's similar to the argument people who promote tax cuts make: tax revenues will remain stable because a lower rate will result in a higher tax base.
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