לִבְנֵ֨י מְרָרִ֜י לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֗ם מִמַּטֵּ֨ה רְאוּבֵ֤ן וּמִמַּטֵּה־גָד֙ וּמִמַּטֵּ֣ה זְבוּלֻ֔ן עָרִ֖ים שְׁתֵּ֥ים עֶשְׂרֵֽה׃
Les enfants de Merari, selon leurs familles, eurent de la tribu de Ruben, de celles de Gad et de Zabulon, douze villes.
Ibn Ezra
Unto him that smiteth them. Unto God, because in truth it is He that smote; the word המכהו has two determinations, like האהלי (Jos. 21:7), my tent.14The two determinations are: the definite article and the possessive pronoun. Nouns with pronominal suffixes have usually no article, because they are sufficiently determined by the pronoun contained in the suffix.