33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites ; these were the families of Merari . 34 Their numbered men in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward , were 6,200 e e . 35 The leader of the fathers' households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail . They were to camp on the northward side of the tabernacle . 36 Now the appointed duties of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle , its bars , its pillars , its sockets , all its equipment , and the service concerning them, 37 and the pillars around the court with their sockets and their pegs and their cords .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 3:33-37
Commentary on Numbers 3:14-39
(Read Numbers 3:14-39)
The Levites were in three classes, according to the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and these were subdivided into families. The posterity of Moses were not at all honoured or privileged, but stood upon the level with other Levites; thus it was plain, that Moses did not seek the advancement of his own family, or to secure any honours to it. The tribe of Levi was by much the least of all the tribes. God's chosen are but a little flock in comparison with the world.