Lukas 5:27

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners

5:27 After ¹  this, Jesus ²  went out and saw a tax collector ³  named Levi ⁴  sitting at the tax booth. ⁵  “Follow me,” ⁶  he said to him.

Lukas 18:4

18:4 For ⁷  a while he refused, but later on ⁸  he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, ⁹ 

Lukas 20:11

20:11 So ¹⁰  he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ 

[5:27]  ¹ tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[5:27]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:27]  ³ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

[5:27]  ⁴ sn It is possible that Levi is a second name for Matthew, because people often used alternative names in 1st century Jewish culture.

[5:27]  ⁵ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion; so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[5:27]  sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Levi (also named Matthew [see Matt 9:9]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.

[5:27]  ⁶ sn Follow me. For similar calls on the part of Jesus see Luke 5:10-11; 9:23, 59; 18:22.

[18:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “And for.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “after these things.”

[18:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[20:11]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.

[20:11]  ¹¹ sn The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit – and thus neither was the nation of Israel.