noun · masculine
telōnos
Strong’sG5057
a collector of taxes
stem telōn-21 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books4 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
A τελώνης is a tax collector, someone involved in gathering public revenue 1234. The term could refer either to a person who contracted to farm out taxes on a larger scale, corresponding to the Latin publicanus, or to a subordinate official who actually collected taxes or tolls in a particular district 13. In the biblical writings the word is regularly used for such local collectors, often named alongside "sinners" or other disreputable groups as a byword for someone despised by respectable society 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
* τελώνης, -ου, ὁ
(< τέλος, ὠνέομαι)
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5057 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(τέλος 1.8, ὠνέομαι) farmer or collector of tolls, customs, or taxes, Refs 5th c.BC+, of the Oropians, Refs 2nd c.BC+; = Latin publicanus, NT; πορνοβοσκοὶ καὶ τ. Refs 2nd c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | telōnos5×τελώνης | telōnois8×τελῶναι |
| object accusative | telōnon1×τελώνην | telōnoin |
| direct address vocative | telōnor | telōnoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | telōnou | telōnoiu7×τελωνῶν |
| to, for dative | telōno | telōnoi |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
telōno is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
21 occurrences, every one of them listed
telōnos“tax collector”subjectnominative singular5×
Matthew 10:3… kai Bartholomaios, Thōmos kai Mathaios tos telōnos, Iakōbos tos tou Halfaiou kai Thaddaios,… and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Matthew 18:17… si hōsper tos ethnikos kai tos telōnos.… you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Luke 18:10… tos henos Farisaios kai tos heteros telōnos.… a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
Luke 18:11… moichois, ē kai hōs houtos tos telōnos;… evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector.
Luke 18:13tos de telōnos makrothen stēarēntos ouk thelate oude toin …But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even …
telōnon“tax collector”objectaccusative singular1×
Luke 5:27Kai meta houteim exerchata kai theaseta telōnon onome Levion kathorōnton epi tem telōniem, …… Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax …
telōnois“tax collectors”subjectnominative plural8×
Matthew 5:46… tinon misthon echavō? ouchi kai tois telōnois tem autem poialō?… will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?
Matthew 9:10… en ta oikia, kai idou pollois telōnois kai hamartōlois ercharantois sunanakeiole to Iēso …… was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with …
Matthew 21:31… Iēsus; Amēn legamō vi hoti tois telōnois kai tais pornais proagalō vin eis …… them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom …
Matthew 21:32… kai ouk pisteuava auto; tois de telōnois kai tais pornais pisteuala auto; vis …… did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after …
Mark 2:15… en ta oikia autou, kai pollois telōnois kai hamartōlois sunanakeiole to Iēso kai …… was dining at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him …
Luke 3:12erchala de kai telōnois baptizira kai legala pros auton; Didaskalor, …Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they …
Luke 7:29… pantos tos laos akouarantos kai tois telōnois dikaiala ton theon, baptizirantois tem baptismem …… people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice. For they had …
Luke 15:1Ale de auto engizarōntois pantois tois telōnois kai tois hamartōlois akouarō autou.Now all the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around to …
telōnoiu“tax collectors”of, belonging togenitive plural7×
Matthew 9:11… mathētoi autou; Dia tinem meta toiu telōnoiu kai hamartōloiu esthiatō tos didaskalos vu?… Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Matthew 11:19… legalō; Idou anthrōpos fagos kai oinopotos, telōnoiu filos kai hamartōloiu. kai dikaiita tas …… glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated …
Mark 2:16“tax collectors”… hoti esthiatō meta toiu hamartōloiu kai telōnoiu legale toi mathētoi autou; Hoti meta …… saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors …
Mark 2:16… toi mathētoi autou; Hoti meta toiu telōnoiu kai hamartōloiu esthiatō?… disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Luke 5:29… oikia autou; kai ate ochlos pollos telōnoiu kai allosoiu hois ale meta autoiu …… his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who …
Luke 5:30… autou legarōntois; Dia tinem meta toiu telōnoiu kai hamartōloiu esthiavō kai pinavō?… do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Luke 7:34… Idou anthrōpos fagos kai oinopotos, filos telōnoiu kai hamartōloiu.… glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’