telōnēs

What it means

Someone who collected taxes or customs for Rome, usually by paying for the contract in advance and recovering the cost, plus a profit, from the public. They were thought of as collaborators and thieves and are grouped with "sinners." Luke names tax collectors more than any other Gospel: Levi (5:27), those baptized by John (3:12, 7:29), and later Zacchaeus (19:2).

Range of meaning

• Tax collectorOne who collects taxes.
• Customs agentOne who collects tolls on trade.

In Luke

• Chapter 5

  Levi the tax collector (5:27, 5:29-30).