People & groups
Tax collector
A person responsible for collecting taxes; the Gospels record instructions to collectors and their encounters with Jesus.
Also called Β· Publican
What it means
In Luke 3, tax collectors come for baptism and ask what to do. John the Baptist tells them to collect no more than the amount appointed.
Luke 19 introduces Zacchaeus as a wealthy chief tax collector. When Jesus goes to stay at his house, people complain that he is visiting a sinner. Zacchaeus says he gives half his goods to the poor and repays four times as much if he has wrongfully taken anything.
How it appears in the Bible
In Matthew 9, Jesus calls Matthew from the tax office, and Matthew gets up and follows. The Pharisees then question why Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus answers with the picture of sick people needing a physician and the call for mercy. These scenes do not establish that every tax collector had the same character.