For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and Gadites. You have no portion in the LORD.' So your children might make our children stop fearing the LORD — The acknowledgment that the Jordan is a 'boundary between us' (gĕbûl bênênû) shows the eastern tribes' awareness of geographical separation. The fear that western children might claim eastern children 'have no portion in the LORD' (ʾēn lakem ḥeleq bĕYHWH) articulates a profound covenant anxiety: does geographical separation entail spiritual separation? The proposed counter—that eastern children might 'stop fearing the LORD'—indicates that covenant identity requires ongoing visible connection to the western sanctuary.

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