These were the Levites enrolled by clans: through Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; through Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; through Merari, the clan of the Merarites.
Eleazar, Aaron’s son, married one of Putiel’s daughters, who bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites by their clans.