Unto the rest of the children of Merari - Rather, "Unto the rest the children of Merari" - that is to say, "unto the remainder of the Levites, who were descendants of Merari": - the two other branches, the Kohathites and the Gershomites, having been treated of previously.

(1 Chronicles 6:62). The cities of the Merarites; cf. Joshua 21:34-37. "To the sons of Merari the remaining," sc. Levites. In Joshua 21:34 it is more clearly put הנּותרים הלויּם, for the remaining Merarites are not spoken of. What is intended to be said is, that the Merarites, alone of the Levites, are still to be mentioned. In the tribe of Zebulun, in 1 Chronicles 6:77, only two cities are named, Rimmon and Tabor, instead of the four - Jokneam, Karthah, Dimnah, and Nahalal - in Joshua 21:34. The first two names have been dropped out of our text, while רמּונו corresponds to the דּמנה of Joshua, but is a more correct reading, since רמּון occurs in Joshua 19:13 among the cities of Zebulun, while דּמנה is not mentioned; and תּבור must consequently correspond to the נהלל in Joshua. Nahalal occurs in Joshua 19:15 and in Judges 1:30, in the form Nahalol, among the cities of Zebulun, and consequently seems to be the more correct name, but has not yet been pointed out with certainty, since its identification with Mlul (Arabic m‛lûl), south-west from Nazareth, rests upon very slender foundation. Bertheau's conjecture that the name of the city has been dropped out, and that of a more exact description of its position, perhaps תּבר כּסלת גּבוּל על, Joshua 19:12, only the last word has remained, is no more probable than that of Movers, that instead of the name of the city, only the neighbourhood in which the city lay, viz., Mount Tabor, is mentioned.

Unto the rest of the children of Merari were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Rimmon with her suburbs, Tabor with her suburbs:

6:1-81 Genealogies. - We have an account of Levi in this chapter. The priests and Levites were more concerned than any other Israelites, to preserve their descent clear, and to be able to prove it; because all the honours and privileges of their office depended upon their descent. Now, the Spirit of God calls ministers to their work, without any limit as to the families they came from; and then, as now, though believers and ministers may be very useful to the church, none but our great High Priest can make atonement for sin, nor can any be accepted but through his atonement.