A “tax” is money or goods that people pay to a government that rules over them. When people pay a “tax,” it is usually for owning land or for living in a place that is controlled by the government. When people pay a “toll,” it is usually for bringing in goods from a different place or for sending goods to a different place.
In New Testament times, a "tax collector" was a person who received money for the government. People who owed taxes to the government gave their tax money to the tax collector.
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In the time of Jesus and the apostles, the Roman government required taxes from everyone living in the Roman empire, including the Jews. If a person did not pay their taxes, the government could punish the person.
The Jews hated tax collectors. Tax collectors often took more money than the people owed. Tax collectors did this so they could keep some of the money for themselves. If a Jew became a tax collector, they were considered traitors to their people because they worked for the Roman government. The New Testament talked about “tax collectors” along with “sinners” (see: Matthew 9:10-11; Luke 15:1)
Jewish leaders asked Jesus about taxes (see: Matthew 22:15-22). The Jewish leaders knew that the people hated paying taxes. They wanted Jesus to say something bad so that the people would stop following him.
Jesus was kind to tax collectors (see: Matthew 9:10-13). Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples, was a tax collector (see: Matthew 9:9; 10:2-4).
Paul taught that Christians should pay taxes to the government (see: Romans 13:1-7).
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