Numbers 32:2
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
The children of Gad and Reuben came together to lay their proposal before Moses and Eleazar the priest and the princes of the congregation. They asked to make their settlement east of the Jordan because that country was fitted to the great cattle and livestock they possessed. Moses at first understood their words as an attempt to avoid the fighting that the rest of Israel must still face. To answer that fear they then promised to join their brethren in the battles to possess Canaan.