10:3a–b

Matthew the tax collector: Matthew was a tax collector, but probably quit that job when he became a disciple of Jesus. If people will think that Matthew still collected taxes, you may want to include some implied information. For example:

Matthew, who was ⌊formerly⌋ a tax collector

tax collector: The conquering Romans employed certain Jews to collect taxes for them from other Jews. The Romans did not give them wages, rather they allowed the tax collector to take extra taxes for his wages.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

who collected taxes
-or-
who took money ⌊from the people⌋ for the government

The term tax collector first occurs in 9:10b. You should translate it here as you did there.

10:3c

James son of Alphaeus: This James was a different “James” than the one in 10:2c. Alphaeus was his father.

and Thaddaeus: Thaddaeus was another disciple. This person was not James’ mother. And he was also not a son of Alphaeus. Make sure this is clear in your translation. Here is an example:

Alphaeus’ son James and Thaddaeus

-or-

James whose father was Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus

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