τελών-ιον G5058
tax booth, customs house; the place where tax collectors sat to collect tolls and duties
The tax booth was the physical station where tax collectors conducted their business, typically positioned at city gates, toll roads, or ports. In first-century Judea, these were symbols of collaboration with Roman occupation, making tax collectors despised figures. All three New Testament occurrences describe the moment Jesus called a tax collector to discipleship—a scandalous act that demonstrated his mission to sinners rather than the righteous. The tax booth thus becomes a vivid setting for radical grace.
Senses
1. sense 1 — This term appears exclusively in the synoptic parallels of Matthew's (Levi's) call: Matthew 9:9, Mark 2:14, and Luke 5:27. Each account shows Jesus passing by the telōnion and calling the tax collector to follow him, who immediately leaves his lucrative position. The multilingual glosses reflect both the structure (Spanish cobro/puesto de impuestos, French bureau de péage, German Zollstelle) and function (English "tax-booth"). The site represents the dramatic break required by discipleship—leaving security and wealth for an uncertain future following Jesus. 3×
AR["مَكانِ الجِبايَةِ", "مَكانِ-الجِبايَةِ", "مَكسِ"]·ben["কর-আদায়ের-আড্ডায়", "কর-আদায়ের-ঘরে", "কর-সংগ্রহালয়ে,"]·DE["Zollstelle", "τελώνιον"]·EN["tax-booth"]·FR["bureau-de-péage"]·heb["בֵּית-הַמֶּכֶס", "בֵּית־הַמֶּכֶס", "מֶכֶס"]·HI["चुंगी-घर", "चुंगी-नाके", "चुंगी-नाके-पर"]·ID["pemungutan-cukai", "tempat-pemungutan-cukai,", "tempat-pemungutan-pajak"]·IT["telonion"]·jav["pabeyan,", "panggenan-pajeg", "papan-pajeg,"]·KO["세관", "세관에"]·PT["colétoria", "colétoria,"]·RU["мытнице,", "сбора-податей"]·ES["cobro-de-impuestos", "puesto-de-impuestos"]·SW["ofisi-ya-ushuru", "ofisi-ya-ushuru,"]·TR["vergi-kulbesinde", "vergi-kulübesinde,", "vergi-masasında"]·urd["-کی", "چنگی", "چنگی-کی-چوکی"]
Related Senses
H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)G1325 1. give, bestow (336×)H5159 1. inherited land or property (170×)G2983 1. receive, obtain (134×)H3423 1. Qal: take possession of land (130×)G2983 2. take, take up (113×)G2398 1. one's own, belonging to oneself (91×)G3860 1. hand over, deliver to custody (78×)H7998 1. spoil, plunder, booty (74×)G1325 2. be given, be granted (70×)H5414 2. put, place, set (68×)H7999a 1. pay, repay, recompense (63×)H7069 1. Buy, purchase (59×)H1892 1. vanity, futility, absurdity (58×)H5159 2. heritage as covenant portion (52×)H6299 1. redeem or ransom (Qal active) (49×)H4376 1. Sell (Qal active) (47×)H1350a 1. Redeem, buy back (46×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
τελών-ιον, τό, custom-house, NT+3rd c.BC+ __II customs-duty, Refs 1st c.BC+