MERARI
106
MERAPvITE
" travelling companies," or caravans, are frequently al- luded to (Isa. xxi, 13 ; Ezek. xxvii, 15). — Smith.
Mera'ri (Heb. Merari', ^"^"^"C, sad; Sept. MfpapO, the youngest son of Levi, probably born in Canaan (Gen. xlvi, 11; Exod. vi, IG; Numb, iii, 17; 1 Chron. vi, 1). B.C. 1874. Of Merari's personal liistory, beyond the fact of his birth before the descent of Jacob into Egypt, and of his being one of the seventy who accompanied Jacob thither, we know nothing whatever (Gen. xlvi, 8, 11). He became the head of the third great division (nriE w"2) of the Levites, whose designation in Hebrew is tlie same as that of their progenitor, only with the article prefixed, viz. *''^"i53il, i. e. the Merarites (Exod. vi, 19), who during the march through the desert had charge of the materials of the Tabernacle (Numb, iii, 36 ; iv, 30 sq.), for the transportation of which they were provided with four carts, each drawn by a yoke of oxen (Numb, vii, 8), In Palestine they were assigned twelve trans- Jordan ic cities for a residence (Josh, xxi, 7, 34 sq.). See Meraiute.
Merahi (Mfpapi v. r. Mtpapci) was likewise the name of the father of Judith (Judith viii, 1 ; xvi,7).
Mera'rite (Heb. same as Merari, Sept. Mepapi, Autli. Vers. '• Merarites"), the patronymic title of the descendants of Mer^mu (Numb, xxvi, 57). In the fol- lowing account of them we follow that in Smith's ZHct. of t/ie Bible, s.y.
At the time of the exodus, and the numbering in the wilderness, the iMerarites consisted of two families, the JIahlites and the Mushites, Mahli and Mushi being either the two sons or the son and grandson of Jlcrari. (1 Chron. vi, 19,47). Their chief at that time was Zu- riel, and the whole number of the family, from a month old and upwards, was G"200 ; those from thirty years old to fifty were 3200. Their charge was the boards, bars, pillars, cockets, pins, and cords of the Tabernacle and the court, and all the tools connected with setting them up. In the encampment their place was to the ntirth of the Tabernacle, and both they and the Gershonites were " under the hand" of Ithamar, the son of Aaron. Owing to the heavy nature of the materials which they
GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE MERAK1TE8. Levi (Exod. vi, lC-19 ; Numb, iii, lT-20).
Merari.
Mushi.
I
Mahli.
I
Eder (1 Chron. xxiv, SO).
Jerimoth (ib.).
Libui.
I Shiinei.
I Uzza.
Shimei.
Eagiriah.
Abihail.
I
Zuiiel,
chief of the house of the
father of the families of Merari iu
the time of Moses
(Numb, iii, 35).
Shamer.
Baui^Buuni (Neh. xi, 16) ?
i Amzi.
I Hilkiah.
I
.'fof
Asiiiali, clii
220Meraiiu-s in
the time of David
(tChrou. vi,14, 4r);
XV, 6). But this
genealoiry is doubtless
imperfect, as it frives
only ten jreneiations
from Levi to Asaiah
iuclusive.
Ilashabiah.
I
I I
JaaziahorJaaziel(l Chron. xv,lS; xxiv,20,2T). Malluch. I I
Shoham (xxiv, 27).
Zaccur or Ibri or Abdi Zeehaiiah (vi.44;
(ib. aud XV, IS), xxiv, 27).
See Sept. {'Aftai).
Abdi.
Eleazar (xxiii, 21, 22 ; xxiv, 2S).
Hosah (xvi, HS, 42 ; xxvi, 10, 10).
Obed- Galal or Zeri or
Edom Oodaliah Izri
(xvi, 38). (xxv. 3,'.t)- (ib.3,11).
.Teshaiah Ilashabiah (ib. 3,15). (ib. 3, lU; vi. 45).
Kishi, Kish (xxiii, 21), or Knshaiah (xv, 17).
. _J
I
I I I
Simri Hilkiah Teba- (xxvi.lO). (ib. 11). liah (ib.).
Zecha- riah (ib.).
"Sons of Jednthun, Sliemaiah, and T'z/.iel," iu time of Uezekiah (2 Chiou. xxix, 14).
"Obadiah (or Abda), the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthnu," after the return from captivity (1 Chron. ix, 10 ; Neh. xi, 17).
Jlatti- Jerahmeel Ethan, called thiah (xxiv, 29). also Jednthun, (ib.3,21). head of the
singers in the time of
David (vi. 44-47:
XV, 17, 1!»; xvi, 41, 42;
xxv, 1, 3, C).
Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son
of Jehalelfl, in ri'ign of Hezekiah
(2 Chron. xxix, 12).
Sherpbinh, in time of Ezra, "of the
sons of Mahli" (Ezra viii, IS) : corrupted to
Asebebia (1 Esdr. viii, 47).
Jcshaiah, of the sons of Merari, in the time of Ezra (Ezra viii, 19).
Ilasshub.
Shemainh, after the return from captivity (1 Chron. ix, 14 ; Neh. xi, 15).
llas-habiah.of the sons of Merari, in the
time of Ezra (Ezra viii, 19), called Asehi
aud Assanias (1 Esdr. viii, 48, 54).
MERARITE
107
MERBES
had to earn', four wagons and eight oxen were assigned to them ; and in the march both they and the (iershon- ites followed immediately after the standard of Judah, and before that of Reuben, that they might set up the Tabernacle against the arrival of the Kohathites (Numb. iii,20, 33-37 ; iv, 29-33, 42-45 ; vii, 8 ; x, 17, 21). In the division of the land by Joshua, the iMerarites had twelve cities assigned to them, out of Reuben, Gad, and Zebu- Ion, of which one was Ramoth-Gilead, a city of refuge, and in later times a frequent subject of war between Israel and Syria (Josli. xxi, 7, 34-40; 1 Chron. vi, G3, 79-81). In the time of David Asaiah was their chief, and assisted with 220 of his family in bringing up the ark (1 Chron. xv, 6). Afterwards we find the Merar- ites still sharing with the two other Levitical families the various functions of their caste (1 Chron. xxiii, 6, 21-23). Thus a third part of the singers and musicians were Merarites, and Ethan or Jeduthun was their chief in the time of David. See Jeduthcn. A third part of the door-keepers were IMerarites (1 Chron. xxiii, 5, 6; xxvi, 10, 19), unless, indeed, we are to understand from ver. 19 that the door-keepers were all either Kohathites or Merarites, to the exclusion of the Gershonites, which does not seem probable. In the days of Hezekiah the Merarites were still flourishing, and Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehalelel, took their part with their brethren of the two other Levitical families in promoting the reformation, and purifying the house of the Lord (2 Chron. xxix, 12, 15). After the return from captivity Shemaiah represents the sons of Merari, in 1 Chron. ix, 14; Neh. xi, 15, and is said, with other chiefs of the Levites, to have " had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God." There were also at that time sons of Jeduthun under Obadiah or Abda, the son of Shemaiah (1 Chron. ix, 16; Neh. xi, 17). A little later again, in the time of Ezra, when he was in great want of Levites to accompany him on his journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, '• a man of good understanding of the sons of Mahli" was found, whose name, if the text here and at ver. 24 is correct, is not given. " Jeshaiah, also, of the sons of Merari," with twenty of his sons and brethren, came with him at the same time (Ezra viii, 18, 19). But it seems pretty cer- tain that Sherebiah, in ver. 18, is the name of the Mah- lite, and that both he and Hashabiah, as well as Jesha- iah, in ver. 19, were Levites of the family of Merari, and not, as the actual text of ver. 24 indicates, priests. The copulative 1 has probably fallen out before their names in ver. 24, as appears from ver. 30 (see also 1 Chron. ix, 14; Neh. xii, 24). See Levite.