민수기 3:32 해설: Rashi, Tur HaArokh, Siftei Chakhamim & Rav Hirsch

ונשיא נשיאי הלוי AND [ELAZAR THE SON OF AARON THE PRIEST WAS] THE PRINCE OVER THE PRINCES OF THE LEVITES — i.e. he was appointed over all of them. And in regard to what was his overship?

ונשיא נשיאי הלוי אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן, “and the leader of the Levites’ leader was Eleazar, son of the High Priest Aaron.” Eleazar was the leader of the three leaders of the families of Gershon, Kehat, and Merari. Ibn Ezra writes that the word נשיאי carries both itself and the following word הלוי with it, so that the meaning of the sequence ונשיא נשיאי הלוי אלעזר is: “and the prince of the respective leaders of the Levites was Eleazar.”

Appointed over all of them. The language in the verse implies that he was like one of the other leaders, (a leader of the leaders of Levi) and no more. This is so because in the word ונשיא (the leader) the vav is vowelized with a shuruk (וּנשיא) which means that it is connected to the word following (the leaders), otherwise it should have been vowelized with a shva under the vav and a kometz under the nun (וְנָשיא). Therefore Rashi needed to explain that “He was appointed…”

פקדת שמרי משמרת THE OVERSIGHT OF THEM THAT KEEP THE CHARGE [OF THE SANCTUARY] — i.e. by him was the appointment of all of these.