“Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
Matthew 5:46
Cultural referenceSettledJesus
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? (Matthew 5:46 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A jab at an unpopular profession, like joking about lawyers.
The cultural key
Telōnai were locals who contracted to collect tolls and taxes for Rome, profiting on whatever they squeezed out above the contract. They were seen as collaborators and presumed cheats; rabbinic tradition grouped them with robbers and disqualified them as court witnesses. 'Tax collector' was shorthand for the moral floor.
Recovered meaning
'Even the most despised, self-serving people you can name love their own circle. If your love goes no further, what exactly is distinctive about it?'
Parallels: Luke 6:32–33