“... In the story of the Reubenites and the Gadites in the Transjordan in Numbers 32, a special deal is struck between the two tribes and Moses. If, and only if, these two tribes go to war with the rest of the Israelites, see the land entirely subdued and apportioned to the remaining tribes, then—and only then—will they be allowed to return to the Transjordan and take possession of the portions of land they requested to be their allotted inheritance. These are the same cities that they build in Numbers 32:34–38, and in which they have left their wives, children, and livestock. At this point in the story, the condition specified by Moses in Numbers 32:29 has finally been fulfilled. The last act of Joshua in this story, then, is to carry out Moses’s command—to permit the Reubenites and Gadites to return to those cities in the Transjordan. ...”