And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the
 children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of
 Gilead
 The deputation came thither; they either sent for the chiefs among the two tribes and a half, to meet them at some place, or they, having a notion of their coming, assembled together to receive them, and hear what they had to say to them: 
 and they spake with them, saying;
 as follows; very probably Phinehas was the mouth of the whole, for there could be but one speaker.