Publican

Publicans (Greek telonai, tax-collectors) in the Roman system were contractors who farmed the collection of taxes and customs duties. The chief publicans (such as Zacchaeus, Luke 19:2) would purchase the tax-farming rights for an entire district and then employ subordinate collectors. The system invited extortion, and Jewish publicans working for Rome were despised as both traitors and oppressors. Jesus' association with publicans — eating with them (Matt. 9:10–11), calling Levi/Matthew (Luke 5:27–28), and using them as moral examples (Luke 18:13; Matt. 21:31–32) — scandalized the religious establishment and illustrated his mission to the lost. The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector presents the publican's humble prayer as the model of true repentance (Luke 18:13–14).