How to cite this article: Guido Baltes, “(Why) Did Jews Hate Tax Collectors–Or Did They? The Evolution of a Modern Stereotype in Biblical Studies,” Jerusalem Perspective (2024) [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/28688/].
This article belongs to the collection Ashrech Ziqnati (Blessed Are You, My Old Age): Studies in Honor of David Bivin’s 85th Birthday.
The image of the despised tax or toll collector,[1] ostracized and hated by the Jewish community, is a common motif in Christian bible exposition and New Testament exegesis. The relevant texts for the development of this motif are the stories of the calling of Levi or Matthew (Mark 2:13-17 parr) and Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Additional references to criticism of Jesus’ association and table fellowship with “tax collectors and sinners“ (Matt. 11:19 ∥ Luke 7:34; Luke 15:1-3) or to sins committed by tax collectors (Matt. 5:46; 21:31-32; Luke 3:12-13; 18:10-13; 19:8b), as well as the depiction of toll collectors as apparent “outsiders” (Matt. 18:17) add to the picture.
In the popular TV series “The Chosen,” a fictional dramatization of the life of Jesus,[2] one of the opening scenes shows Matthew crossing a crowded marketplace while people from all sides shout insults at him. In order to reach his tax booth safely, he has to hide on the cart of a local dung collector whom he pays for discrete transport. But even this man refuses to be seen with Matthew in public, fearing reprisals against himself and his family. Matthew’s booth has to be opened by a Roman soldier, suggesting direct subordination of the tax collector to the local Roman administration. Later on in the series, we learn that Matthew had been disinherited and declared dead by his father years ago. His whole family severed all contact because, as a collaborator with the enemy, he betrays his own nation.
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Did Jews hate tax and toll collectors? Neither the New Testament nor the rabbinical sources testify to the existence of such hatred. As a matter of fact, the Greco-Roman sources are much more polemical and hate-filled than the Jewish sources. Yes, there are legal restrictions for tax and toll collectors. However, we also read that Rabbis intervened in order to ease these restrictions for those tax and toll collectors who did not conform to the stereotype, but did their job justly and reliably. The few stories that we actually find in Jewish literature about tax collectors, on the other hand, paint a very positive picture of persons well integrated into their community.
The stereotype of an alleged Jewish hatred against this group of people did not, therefore, emerge from the sources that we have. It originates in a much older stereotype: the charge of Jewish hatred against the whole world. The New Testament, read from a “Jerusalem Perspective,” with an open eye and an open heart for Jewish faith, life, history and literature, can help us overcome this stereotype and ask afresh what we can learn from these tax and toll collectors who gave up everything to follow their new teacher.
- [1] The Greek terms τελώνης (telōnēs), used 21xx in the NT (Synoptic Gospels only), as well as the term ἀρχιτελώνης (architelōnēs, Luke 19:2 only), etymologically refers to toll collectors (telos = border). However, the NT usage of the terms is much more unspecific and can refer to different kinds of customs and tax officials. For the purpose of this article, there is no need to detail the different taxation systems (Roman publicani vs. local tax farmers), the complex variety of levies and taxes (tributum soli, tributum capitis, stipendium, vectigal, decuma, portorium etc.) or the variety of offices involved (Lat. publicanus, portitor, etc., Gk. telones, praktor, etc.). Sources about the taxation system in the land of Israel are sparse altogether. Most probably, the New Testament telonai were not Roman publicani (or their subordinates, the portitori), but wealthy local Jewish tax farmers, or their subordinate agents. In any case, taxes and tolls in the Galilee were not collected for “the Romans,” but for the Jewish ruler Herod Antipas. Zacchaeus, in contrast, might have been part of the publicani hierarchy, since Jericho belonged to Roman-governed Judea. For details, see now Aliya El-Mansy, Τελῶναι im Neuen Testament, NTOA 129 (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2024), with a comprehensive survey of other relevant literature. ↩
- [2] https://thechosen.tv/. According to Wikipedia, a survey commissioned by the producers claimed that that as of November 2022, around 108 million viewers worldwide had watched at least part of one episode, cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chosen_(TV_series). ↩
