Verse 27 Levi is supposed to be another name for Matthew. (See Matthew 9:9.) He was a collector of the customs, or duties, at this port, on the lake. The practice was for men of property to pay a specific sum to the government for the right to collect a certain tax or custom. Then, in collecting the tax, they employed subordinate officers of various grades. By this system the government realized the money at once, and were saved all attention to details; and the contractor made a profit, as the sum which he paid was less than the expected proceeds of the tax. But the people suffered, as the system exposed them to cruel extortions from unprincipled and interested collectors of the tax. From the nature of the business, the most rough and unfeeling men would be most efficient and successful in it; the publicans were consequently taken from the most degraded classes of society, and were objects of general detestation.