Numbers 3:35

35 The leader of the family of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they camped on the north side of the tabernacle.^[a]

Numbers 3:35 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 3:35

And the chief of the house of the father of the families of
Merari
I think it should rather be rendered, "and the chief of the house", that is, of the Merarites, "the father to the families of Merari"; the common father to them all, having the chief authority and power over them, and so in ( Numbers 3:24 Numbers 3:30 ) ;

[shall be] Zuriel the son of Abihail;
of whom we read nowhere else, nor is it certain of which family he was, whether of the Mahlites or Mushites:

[these] shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward;
to the left of it, between that and the camp of Dan.

Numbers 3:35 In-Context

33 The Mahlite clan and the Mushite clan came from Merari; these were the Merarite clans.

34 Those registered, counting every male one month old or more, numbered 6,200.

35 The leader of the family of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they camped on the north side of the tabernacle.

36 The assigned duties of Merari's descendants involved the tabernacle's supports, crossbars, posts, bases, all its equipment, and all the work related to these,

37 in addition to the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.

Footnotes

• [a]. Nm 2:25-31