Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 19:2

"And behold, a man called by name Zacchaeus; and he was a chief publican, and he was rich." — Luke 19:2 (ASV)

A man named Zaccheus. The name Zaccheus is Hebrew, and shows that this man was a Jew. The Hebrew name properly means pure, and is the same as Zacchai in Ezra 2:9; Nehemiah 7:14. The publicans, therefore, were not all foreigners.

Chief among the publicans. One who presided over other tax-gatherers, or who received their collections and transmitted them to the Roman government.

He was rich. Though this class of men was despised and often infamous, it seems that they were sometimes wealthy. They bore, however, the general reputation of sinners, because they were particularly odious in the eyes of the Jews. (See the note on Luke 19:7.)

The evangelist considered it worth recording that he was rich, perhaps because it was so unlikely that a rich man should follow so poor and despised a person as Jesus of Nazareth, and because it was such an unusual thing during His personal ministry. Not many rich were called, but God chiefly chose the poor of this world. Compare 1 Corinthians 1:26–29.