Luke 5:27

After ¹  this, Jesus ²  went out and saw a tax collector ³  named Levi ⁴  sitting at the tax booth. ⁵  “Follow me,” ⁶  he said to him.

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him,

After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me."

Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax–collection booth. "Come, be my disciple!" Jesus said to him.

After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, "Come along with me."

And after these things he went out, and saw Levi, a tax-farmer, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and said to him, Come after me.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me."

After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me."

After ¹  this, Jesus ²  went out and saw a tax collector ³  named Levi ⁴  sitting at the tax booth. ⁵  “Follow me,” ⁶  he said to him.

¹ tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

⁴ sn It is possible that Levi is a second name for Matthew, because people often used alternative names in 1st century Jewish culture.

⁵ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion; so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Levi (also named Matthew [see Matt 9:9]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.

⁶ sn Follow me. For similar calls on the part of Jesus see Luke 5:10-11; 9:23, 59; 18:22.