Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 15:1

"Now all the publicans and sinners were drawing near unto him to hear him." — Luke 15:1 (ASV)

“Tax collectors” were among those ostracized because their work was considered dishonest or immoral (see comment on Mk 2:14). NIV appropriately puts “sinners” in quotation marks to show that this was not Luke’s designation; it was the way others, i.e., the Pharisees, thought of them . “All” signifies that a large proportion of “sinners” was usually among the crowds who came to hear Jesus.