As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers;

Thou shalt reckon up the sons of Merari also by the families and houses of their fathers,

The sons of Merari: after their families, according to their fathers' houses shalt thou number them;

'The sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers, thou dost number them;

The sons of Merari are to be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

Likewise, you shall take a census of the sons of Merari, by the families and houses of their fathers,

Filios Merari, per familias suas, per domos patrum suorum nu merabis:

As for the sons of Merari,.... The third and youngest son of Levi:
thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; which is the form of expression used of them all; See Gill on Numbers 4:2.

As for the sons of Merari--They carried the coarser and heavier appurtenances, which, however, were so important and necessary, that an inventory was kept of them--not only on account of their number and variety, but of their comparative commonness and smallness, which might have led to their being lost or missing through carelessness, inadvertency, or neglect. It was a useful lesson, showing that God disregards nothing pertaining to His service, and that even in the least and most trivial matters, He requires the duty of faithful obedience.

Service of the Merarites. - Numbers 4:29 and Numbers 4:30, like Numbers 4:22 and Numbers 4:23. פּקד, to muster, i.e., to number, equivalent to ראשׁ נשׁא, to take the number.