Numbers 32:19
For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward. For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.
The tribes of Gad and Reuben received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, and not together with the rest of Israel in Canaan on the west. Their asking to settle there was not a refusal to share in the common duties of Israel, for they pledged first to provide homes for their families and then to cross over and fight beside their brethren until every tribe had entered its own inheritance. The history stands as a warning against choosing personal ease and temporal prosperity while leaving others to carry the burdens of God's work.