From Nave’s Topical Bible
Publicans
Every passage the 1896 Nave’s Topical Biblegathers under this heading, in Nave’s own arrangement and then in Bible order. MannaFest has not written this page — it is the older index, transcribed, with the Word travelling beside each reference.
- 16Passages listed
- 3Books of the 66
- 1896Nave's edition
How Nave’s arranged it
- (Tax collectors for the Romans)
- DisreputableMatthew 5:46Matthew 5:47Matthew 9:11Matthew 11:19Matthew 18:17Matthew 21:31Luke 18:11
- Change their ways because of the preaching of John the BaptistMatthew 21:32Luke 3:12Luke 7:29
- Matthew, the tax collector of Capernaum, becomes an apostleMatthew 9:9Matthew 10:3Mark 2:14Luke 5:27
- Parable concerningLuke 18:9–14
- Zacchaeus, chief among, receives Jesus into his houseLuke 19:2–10
The passages, in Bible order (16)
The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.
- Matthew 5:46
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?
Commentary on Matthew 5:461 voice
(non occ.) To love one that loves us is of nature, but to love our enemy of charity. If ye love them who love you, what reward have ye? to wit, in heaven. None truly, for of such it is said, Ye have received your reward. But these things we ought to do, and not leave the other undone.
Glossa Ordinaria· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 1274Patristic
- Matthew 5:47
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?
Commentary on Matthew 5:471 voice
(non occ.) But if you only pray for them that are your kinsfolk, what more has your benevolence than that of the unbelieving? Salutation is a kind of prayer.
Glossa Ordinaria· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 1274Patristic
- Matthew 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
Commentary on Matthew 9:91 voice
Out of respect and deference, the other Evangelists were unwilling to call him by the common name of Matthew but said Levi. So Matthew went by a double name in accordance with what Solomon noted: "An accuser is righteous at the beginning of his words." And in another place: "Tell your sins, and you will be justified." Matthew also calls himself a publican to show his readers that no one must despair of salvation if he has changed for the better, for he was suddenly changed from a publican to an apostle.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420Patristic
- Matthew 9:11
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Commentary on Matthew 9:112 voices
The Jews were seething with envy that the Lord was spending time with publicans and sinners. He declared to them that the words of the law were being concealed under a cloak of faithlessness. He gave aid to the sick and medicine to those in need. For those who believed they were healthy, however, no cure was necessary. But in order for them to understand that none of his followers were healthy, he advised them to learn the meaning of "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice."
Hilary of Poitiers· Commentary (church-history corpus), 367Patristic
For they do not come to Jesus while they remain in their original condition of sin, as the Pharisees and Scribes complain, but in penitence, as what follows proves; But Jesus hearing said, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Jerome· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 420Patristic
- Matthew 10:3
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Commentary on Matthew 10:31 voice
(Verse 3.) The first is Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus. The order and merit of each apostle was determined by the one who searches the secrets of the heart. The first is written Simon, with the surname Peter, to distinguish him from the other Simon who is called the Cananaean, from the village of Cana in Galilee, where the Lord turned water into wine (John 2).
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420Patristic
- Matthew 11:19
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”
Commentary on Matthew 11:192 voices
Wisdom is justified of her children, i. e. The dispensation or doctrine of God, or Christ Himself who is the power and wisdom of God, is proved by the Apostles, who are His children, to have done righteously. Some copies read, Wisdom is justified of her works, for wisdom does not seek the witness of words, but of works.
Jerome· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 420Patristic
If fasting then pleases you, why were you not satisfied with John? If fulness, why not with the Son of man? Yet one of these ye said had a dæmon, the other ye called a gluttonous man, and drunkard.
Jerome· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 420Patristic
- Matthew 18:17
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Commentary on Matthew 18:171 voice
If yet he will not hear them, then it must be told to many, that he may be held in abhorrence; so that he who could not be saved by his own sense of shame, may be saved by public disgrace; whence it follows, If he will not hear them, tell it to the Church. That He says, As a heathen and a publican, shows that he is to be more abhorred, who under the name of a believer does the deeds of an unbeliever, than those that are openly gentiles.
Jerome· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 420Patristic
- Matthew 21:31
Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.
Commentary on Matthew 21:311 voice
(Verse 31) Which of the two did the will of the father? And they said to him: The first. Jesus said to them: Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. But others do not consider it as a parable of the Gentiles and Jews, but rather of sinners and the righteous, as the Lord Himself later expounded on the matter.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420Patristic
- Matthew 21:32
For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Commentary on Matthew 21:321 voice
(Verse 32.) For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. Now, which of the two did the will of his father?' They said, 'The first.' Jesus said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420Patristic
- Mark 2:14
As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.
Commentary on Mark 2:141 voice
Do you hesitate about arts, and trades, and about professions likewise, for the sake of children and parents? Even there was it demonstrated to us, that both "dear pledges," and handicrafts, and trades, are to be quite left behind for the Lord's sake; while James and John, called by the Lord, do leave quite behind both father and ship; while Matthew is roused up from the toll-booth; while even burying a father was too tardy a business for faith.
Tertullian· On Idolatry, 220Patristic
- Luke 3:12
Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
Commentary on Luke 3:122 voices
The Baptist gave a fitting response to each kind of people. To the tax collectors he said that they should not exact payment beyond what was appointed. To the soldiers, that they should not make false accusations or rob anyone, by which he meant that their pay was fixed, so that wanting to have more, they could not resort to plunder. These and other precepts are appropriate for all occupations, and the practice of compassion is shared. Thus it is a common precept that the basic necessities of life must be provided for all occupations, all ages and all people.
Ambrose of Milan· EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.77, 397Patristic
"Tax collectors also came to be baptized." According to the simple interpretation, he teaches the tax collectors to seek "no more" than the law commands. Those who exact more transgress not John's commandment but that of the Holy Spirit, who spoke through John.…We said all this to show that John taught the tax collectors. Among them there were not only those who collected revenue for the state, but also those who were coming for repentance and were not literally tax collectors. And others were soldiers who were going out to the baptism of repentance.
Origen of Alexandria· HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 23.5, 9, 253Patristic
- Luke 5:27
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him,
Commentary on Luke 5:271 voice
Then follows the spiritual calling of the tax collector, whom he orders to follow him not by steps of the body but by character of the mind. Matthew once greedily embezzled from fishermen the profits they earned from hard labor and dangers. When he was called, he abandoned his office, which was to rob others of their money. Yes, he left that shameful seat, to walk totally in the footsteps of the Lord with his mind.
Ambrose of Milan· Commentary on Luke, 397Patristic
- Luke 7:29
All the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice. For they had received the baptism of John.
Commentary on Luke 7:291 voice
Therefore, God Himself is justified through baptism, as humans justify themselves by confessing their own sins, as it is written: 'Declare your iniquities, so that you may be justified' (Isaiah 43:26). He is justified in this, because He is not refuted by stubbornness, but His gift is acknowledged through His righteousness: 'The LORD is righteous, and He loves righteousness' (Psalm 11:8). Therefore, the justification of God is seen in this, that it appears not to unworthy and guilty ones, but to innocent ones made clean through washing and that His gifts have been transferred to the righteous.
Ambrose of Milan· Commentary on Luke, 397Patristic
- Luke 18:9–14
To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:
Commentary on Luke 18:9–141 voice
For that publican who prayed with humility and dejection not merely in his supplication, but in his countenance too, went his way "more justified" than the shameless Pharisee. The sounds of our voice, likewise, should be subdued; else, if we are to be heard for our noise, how large windpipes should we need! But God is the hearer not of the voice, but of the heart, just as He is its inspector.
Tertullian· On Prayer, 220Patristic
- Luke 18:11
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
- Luke 19:2–10
And there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who was very wealthy.
Commentary on Luke 19:2–101 voice
Zacchæus in the sycamore, the blind man by the way side: upon the one our Lord waits to show mercy, upon the other He confers the great glory of abiding in his house. The chief among the Publicans is here fitly introduced. For who will hereafter despair of himself, now that he attains to grace who gained his living by fraud. And he too moreover a rich man, that we may know that not all rich men are covetous.
Ambrose of Milan· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 397Patristic