Receipt Of Custom
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
RECEIPT OF Custom ( Authorized Version; ‘ place of toll ,’ Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885; ‘tolbothe,’ Wyclif) occurs in the parallel accounts of the call of the publican Matthew or Levi to discipleship ( Matthew 9:9, Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27), which took place as Jesus passed forth from His own city, i.e. Capernaum. The custom or toll referred to consisted of export dues on merchandise, and at Capernaum would pass into the treasury of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee in the time of our Lord. Capernaum was close to the junction of the great north road to Damascus with the road that led eastwards round the northern end of the Lake of Galilee, and the important revenue station situated at this point is what we are to understand by the ‘place of toll’ in the Gospel story. See also Publican.
James Patrick.
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [2]
Matthew, when called, was sitting at the receipt of custom, or dues on merchandise. He was a publican or tax- gatherer, or, as we should say, a custom house officer. The publicans had houses or booths built for them at the foot of bridges, at the mouth of rivers, by the sea shore, and the parts of the lake of Gennesareth, or sea of Tiberias, to collect the taxes on passengers and merchandise. See Publican .
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [3]
RECEIPT OF CUSTOM . See Custom(s), Tribute.
