Joshua 22:4
And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.
The tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh were pastoral people who had received their inheritance before crossing the Jordan, in the upland plains and forests of Gilead and Bashan suited for grazing flocks and herds. They had pledged that a proportion of their armed men would cross the Jordan and share the battles until their brethren also entered upon their inheritance. Forty thousand of them prepared for war crossed over to the plains of Jericho and for years fought bravely beside their brethren.
The verse is Joshua dismissing Gad and Reuben and half of Manasseh to their tents and possession east of the Jordan, declaring their obligation faithfully discharged and that the time to return had come. Because they had united in the conflicts, they shared the spoils and returned with great riches in livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and clothing, to divide with those who had remained with the families and flocks. They were now to dwell at a distance from the sanctuary, and Joshua witnessed their departure with an anxious heart because their isolated and wandering life would bring strong temptations to fall into the customs of the heathen tribes on their borders.