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The tax farmers in Israel, here called tax-collectors, were somewhat different from IRS agents. They were more like Mafia enforcers, employing thugs to shake down local citizens and merchants. The Romans specified how much each tax man was supposed to pay them, and the architelōē or chief tax-collector, gave rake-offs to his bag-men and kept the rest. He is also described as πλούσιος, or wealthy–opulent. So he was very good at his job, as far as the Romans were concerned, and very hated by the citizens of Jericho.

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