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 ,

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.