Section 5:27–32

Jesus chose Levi to become one of his disciples

In this section, Jesus asked a man named Levi to be his disciple. For the meaning of “disciple,” see the note at 5:30a.

Levi was a tax collector. Jews hated tax collectors for at least two reasons:

(a) Tax collectors worked for the Roman government or for Herod’s government. These were foreign governments that ruled the Jews.

(b) Tax collectors sometimes collected more money than necessary. Then they kept the extra money and became rich.

This story also tells about another conflict that Jesus had with the Jewish religious leaders. After Levi became Jesus’ disciple, Jesus came to have dinner at his house. Levi’s friends, who were also tax collectors or other sinners, also came to the dinner. During the dinner, the religious leaders criticized Jesus for associating with such people. Jesus answered that it is people who know they are sinners who need him, not people who believe themselves to be righteous.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Jesus called Levi to be his disciple and ate with sinners
-or-
Jesus loves sinners

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 9:9–13 and Mark 2:13–17.

Paragraph 5:27–28

5:27a

After this: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as After this is literally “After these things” (as in the King James Version). This means “after the events in the previous section occurred.” Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

After these things happened
-or-
Later (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus went out: The Greek text does not say from where Jesus went out. The meaning may be that he went out of the house where he had healed the paralyzed man. It may also be that he went out of the town. (Mark 2:13 indicates that Jesus went out of the town.) Tax booths were often located just outside of a town or city.

If it is necessary in your language, make explicit from where Jesus went out. For example:

Jesus left ⌊the house⌋
-or-
Jesus went out ⌊from the town⌋

5:27b

saw a tax collector named Levi: This part of the verse introduces Levi and says that Jesus saw him. In some languages it may be more natural to use more than one statement to do this. For example:

There was a man there named Levi who was a tax collector…. Jesus saw him…

saw: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as saw means to “look at intently or pointedly.” It implies that Jesus did not just look at Levi briefly. He continued to observe him. Here is one way to express this in English:

looked straight at (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

tax collector: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as tax collector refers to a man whose job was to gather money from people. This money was called a tax. Then he gave this money to the government. People paid different types of taxes. For instance, people had to pay taxes based on their wealth and property. They also had to pay a tax for using certain roads and to bring goods into the country.

Levi probably collected fees on goods and produce that people brought into Herod’s kingdom. He possibly also collected fees for using the road.

If you do not have a word in your language for tax collector, you may need to use a descriptive phrase. For example:

someone who collects money
-or-
a money collector for the government

You may want to include a footnote to explain the meaning of this word. You may also want to explain it in a glossary. For example:

Tax collectors worked for the Romans or King Herod. Tax collectors often cheated people by forcing them to pay more money than they owed. As a result, many Jews hated tax collectors.

sitting at the tax booth: The phrase sitting at the tax booth implies that Levi was doing his work. He was collecting taxes for the government. See the discussion about this in the introduction to Section 5:27–32.

tax booth: The tax booth was probably some sort of small table under a shelter where Levi sat to receive taxes from the people. Some other ways to translate the phrase tax booth are:

the place where taxes are collected
-or-
the place for paying taxes (Contemporary English Version)

5:27c

“Follow Me,” He told him: In Greek this part of the verse begins with the words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He told him. The Berean Standard Bible places these words after the phrase Follow Me. Put these phrases in a natural order in your language.

Follow Me: In this context the phrase Follow Me means “Become my disciple.” Jesus was inviting Levi to be with him every day, listen to his teaching, observe his actions, and learn from him.

Some ways to translate this are:

Be/become my disciple
-or-
Come, follow me wherever I go, and learn from me

You may choose to translate this as Follow Me but include a footnote to explain the idea of a disciple. For example:

Jesus was inviting Levi to become a disciple. A disciple was someone who was always with a teacher and learned from him constantly, both from his teaching and from his actions.

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