Numbers 3:35

35 [The] leader of {the family} according to the clans of Merari [is] Zuriel son of Abihail; they will encamp of the side of the tabernacle to the north.

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 {To Merari belonged} the clan of Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these [are] the clans of Merari.

34 The {ones counted} according to the number of every male from {one month} and above [were] six thousand two hundred.

35 [The] leader of {the family} according to the clans of Merari [is] Zuriel son of Abihail; they will encamp of the side of the tabernacle to the north.

36 The responsibility of the sons of Merari [was] the supervision of the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, bases, and all its vessels and all its service,

37 and the pillars around the courtyard, and their bases, pegs, and cords.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "[the] house of [his] father"