Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 9:10

"And it came to pass, as he sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples." — Matthew 9:10 (ASV)

As Jesus was eating in the house — The Greek text reads, as he was eating. Inserting the name "Jesus" at this point in the sentence obscures the meaning. The intended sense seems to be that while Matthew was seated (that is, reclining in the Roman style), many tax collectors and sinners came and also reclined with Jesus and His disciples.

Assuming Matthew’s authorship of the Gospel, there is a noticeable humility in his omission of the fact that he had made “a great feast” (Luke 5:29). It was apparently a farewell feast for his old friends and neighbors before he began his new calling. Naturally, they were mostly from his own class or an even lower social level.

The tax collector was the outcast of Palestine, and no respectable person would associate with him. The term “sinners” may have included Gentiles but does not necessarily refer only to them. In this context, as in Matthew 9:13, the term is used in its simple and natural sense.