And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest... — In accordance with this punctuation, the designation the priest (which generally denotes the high priest) refers to Aaron, not to Phinehas. Eleazar was the high priest at this time (Numbers 20:26); and consequently — although as a general rule any designation which follows the words “the son of such an one” refers to the former, not to the latter noun — it appears most probable that the designation the priest has reference here to Aaron, not to Phinehas, who, although a priest, was not the high priest at this time. He was invested, however, with civil as well as ecclesiastical authority. (See 1 Chronicles 9:20, where he is described as a ruler — Hebrew, nagid.)
Related Commentaries of Numbers 25:7
Numbers 25:7
7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;