Introduction. At the very beginning, the problematic field of the article is outlined: we will not talk about the problem of the gift, but about why the gift becomes a problem. To do this, it is necessary to consider several contexts in which this problem arises. We propose to dwell on two of them: theological and ontological. Theoretical analysis. In a theological context, two currents of twentieth-century thought are examined in connection with their influence on the problem of the gift.