CategoryPeople / Tax Collection Term
Modern Equivalenttax collector.
KJV Word TypePeople term / occupation term
DefinitionA tax collector, especially one working under Roman authority. In the New Testament, publicans were often socially despised because of their association with taxation, corruption, and Gentile rule.
Key Verses"And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom." (Luke 5:27); "God be merciful to me a sinner." (Luke 18:13)
KJV Usage NotePublicans were tax collectors and often appear in the Gospels as socially despised figures who were nevertheless recipients of Christ’s mercy and call.
Common MisunderstandingIt does not mean a modern public official or innkeeper; in the KJV it usually refers to a tax collector.
EtymologyFrom Latin publicanus ("tax farmer, public revenue collector").