When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
When the body was taken out of the road, the whole force moved forward behind Joab in continued pursuit of Sheba the son of Bichri. That advance came after Absalom's rebellion had been put down, when strife between Judah and Israel gave rise to Sheba's uprising, a movement that threatened to develop into a grave danger to David's kingdom. The incident stands within the record of David's domestic afflictions in chapters 13 through 20, troubles that sprang from his practice of taking many wives. It stands also within the still larger later history found in 2 Samuel 11-24 and 1 Kings 1-2, which follows David's grievous wrongdoing in the matter of Uriah, by which he gave the enemies of the Lord great cause to blaspheme. That history neither hides nor excuses the sin, but preserves the fearful rebuke spoken by the prophet Nathan and traces its full fulfillment in the punishments that fell upon David. In that same history David himself left for all coming time a most humble acknowledgment of his great sin. The whole account shows that no one can violate God's laws without suffering for it, since transgression bears a curse in itself.
When the body was taken out of the road, the whole force moved forward behind Joab in continued pursuit of Sheba the son of Bichri. That advance came after Absalom's rebellion had been put down, when strife between Judah and Israel gave rise to Sheba's uprising, a movement that threatened to develop into a grave danger to David's kingdom. The incident stands within the record of David's domestic afflictions in chapters 13 through 20, troubles that sprang from his practice of taking many wives. It stands also within the still larger later history found in 2 Samuel 11-24 and 1 Kings 1-2, which follows David's grievous wrongdoing in the matter of Uriah, by which he gave the enemies of the Lord great cause to blaspheme. That history neither hides nor excuses the sin, but preserves the fearful rebuke spoken by the prophet Nathan and traces its full fulfillment in the punishments that fell upon David. In that same history David himself left for all coming time a most humble acknowledgment of his great sin. The whole account shows that no one can violate God's laws without suffering for it, since transgression bears a curse in itself.