There were two kinds of Mokhes—the Great Mokhes and the Little Mokhes. A Great Mokhes stayed behind the scenes and hired others to collect taxes for him. (Zaccheus was apparently a Great Mokhes—a "chief tax collector"—Luke 19:2). Matthew was evidently a Little Mokhes, because he manned a tax office where he dealt with people face to face (Matthew 9:9). He was the one the people saw and resented most. He was the worst of the worst. No self-respecting Jew in his right mind would ever choose to be a tax collector.
