20 And the sons of Merari according to their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers' houses. 21 Of Gershon, the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites. 22 Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, those that were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred. 23 The families of the Gershonites encamped behind the tabernacle westward. 24 And the prince of the father's house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was: the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the curtain of the entrance to the tent of meeting. 26 And the hangings of the court, and the curtain of the entrance to the court, which surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and the cords thereof for all its service. 27 And of Kohath, the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, who kept the charge of the sanctuary. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath encamped on the side of the tabernacle southward. 30 And the prince of the father's house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 And their charge was the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, and the curtain, and all that belongs to its service. 32 And the prince of princes of the Levites was Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest: he had the oversight of them that kept the charge of the sanctuary. 33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari. 34 And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred. 35 And the prince of the father's house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They encamped on the side of the tabernacle northward.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 3:20-35
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.