And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, returned,.... First to the camp to take their substance, and then set forward to their own land: and departed from the children of Israel; from the rest of them, for otherwise they were children of Israel also: out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan; for here the camp of Israel was, as well as the tabernacle: to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed; Gilead is put for the whole country on the other side Jordan, as the land of Jazer, and the kingdom of Bashan, which the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, were possessed of: according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses; for when they moved to have that country, Moses, it seems, consulted the Lord about it, who declared it to be his will they should have it, on performing what they promised, see Num 32:1.