TAX COLLECTORS - These were the lower class of collectors, entrusted principally with the collection of tools an entering cities. Their function corresponded more or less with those of the customs officials and the granting of passes. They shared the rejection suffered by Publicans in general. This is the reason why, in the Bible, we frequently meet the ward Publican alongside the expression - sinful people. This did not imply debauchery or vagrancy but was a term of scorn, synonym for people who kept bad company persons unworthy to mix with decent people.
