Custom

Custom in the New Testament refers to tax or tribute imposed by the Roman authorities. The telonion or toll-booth where Matthew sat collecting customs (Mark 2:14) was a station for levying tariffs on goods in transit, particularly profitable at Capernaum on the trade route from Damascus to the Mediterranean. The publicans (tax-farmers) who collected customs were despised in Jewish society as collaborators with Roman occupation and as likely extortioners, since they profited by collecting above the official rate.

Jesus's teaching on paying taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:17–21; Mark 12:14–17) addressed the question of whether paying the Roman poll tax was lawful — his answer distinguishing what belongs to Caesar from what belongs to God became foundational in Christian reflection on civil obligation. Paul explicitly commands payment of custom and tribute to governing authorities in Romans 13:6–7: render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom. The custom system thus appears in the New Testament as a point of contact between the religious life of Jesus's followers and the economic structures of the Roman Empire.