This portion of the Promised Land went to the two and one-half tribes that had requested it previously (Num. 32).
13:8-14 This pericope of verses records the boundaries of Israel's whole transjordanian territory. The peoples the Israelites did not annihilate and their land that they did not possess were in the northern part of this area (cf. 12:5). Gilead (v. 11) included land on both sides of the Jabbok east of the Jordan.
"The Transjordanian tribes receive a disproportionate amount of attention in this book that records the Conquest and division of the land westof the Jordan (cf. 1:12-15; 4:12; 12:1-6; 13:8-33; 22:1-34). The author was eager to uphold the unity of the Twelve Tribes in spite of the geographic separation and an undercurrent of feeling that only the land west of the Jordan was truly the Promised Land."165
13:15-23 Reuben's portion was the southern part of this area.
Balaam (v. 22) had lost his life during Israel's battle with the Midianites (Num. 31:8).
13:24-28 The allotment of Gad lay in the middle of Israel's territory east of the Jordan roughly between the Jabbok River and the northern end of the Dead Sea.
13:29-31 Half of the tribe of Manasseh settled in the northern portion of this area.
13:32-33 The description of this territory ends with a reminder of the Levites' inheritance, who received a special relationship to God rather than a tract of land.
"The two and one-half tribes chose, as Lot did, on the basis of appearance (cf. Gen. 13:10-11), and their inheritance was ultimately lost to them [cf. 1 Chron. 5:26]. On the other hand the Levites, requesting no portion, were given an inheritance of abiding spiritual significance."166
