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20 lines
1.8 KiB
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# Tax (Tax Collector, Toll)
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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.
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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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#### More Information About This Topic
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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.
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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)
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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.
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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).
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Paul taught that Christians should pay taxes to the government (see: Romans 13:1-7).
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See: [Rome (Roman Empire, Caesar)](../articles/rome.md); [Israel](../articles/israel.md); [Punish (Punishment)](../articles/punish.md); [Sin](../articles/sin.md); [Disciple](../articles/disciple.md)
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