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.