Merarites

The Merarites were the descendants of Merari, the third son of Levi, constituting one of the three main Levitical clans. In the wilderness tabernacle system, they numbered 6,200 males between thirty and fifty years old available for service (Numbers 4:44). Their specific charge was the transport and erection of the tabernacle's structural frame: the boards, bars, pillars, sockets, and cords that formed the physical skeleton of the tent of meeting (Numbers 3:36–37; 4:31–33). They were given four wagons and eight oxen to carry these heavy loads — twice the allotment of the Gershonites (Numbers 7:8).