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32 Now the head of all the Levitical leaders[a] was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He was appointed over those who were responsible for[b] the sanctuary.

The Numbering of Merari

33 From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were[c] the families of Merari. 34 Those of them who were numbered, counting every male from a month old and upward, were 6,200.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 3:32 tn The Hebrew construction has “the leader of the leaders of” (וּנְשִׂיא נְשִׂיאֵי, unesiʾ nesiʾe).
  2. Numbers 3:32 tn Heb “the keepers of the responsibility” (שֹׁמְרֵי מִשְׁמֶרֶת, shomerey mishmeret). The participle is a genitive specifying the duty to which he was appointed (thing possessed); its cognate genitive emphasizes that their responsibility was over the holy place.
  3. Numbers 3:33 tn The Hebrew text has “these they the families of Merari.” The independent personal pronoun has an anaphoric use, somewhat equivalent to the copula “and” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).