‘ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the families (thousands) of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, spoke, it pleased them well.'
Phinehas and the princes considered the words spoken by the Transjordan tribal representatives and were satisfied as to their rightness and their genuineness as is demonstrated by the fact that ‘it pleased them well'. Now they knew for certain the commitment of the Transjordan tribes to the tribal covenant. Because Phinehas was acting as his father's representative, and in his father's name, he is called ‘the priest'. It seems probable that at his great age Eleazar was in fact unable to make the journey, and it may indeed be that this also prevented him from functioning at the Tabernacle so that Phinehas had been appointed to act for him there as well. Such deputation of authority is assumed in Exodus 28 where not only Aaron is set apart but also his sons, and was, of course, necessary in case of infirmity or indisposition.