2 Samuel 20:2
So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.
The verse belongs to the closing history of David's reign, among the closing incidents after his victory over Absalom and return to Jerusalem. It stands within the subsequent history told in 2 Samuel 11-24 and 1 Kings 1-2 that closes the longer history begun with the long war between the house of Saul and the house of David in 2 Samuel 3. That history includes Abner's revolt to David, the murder of Abner by Joab, the slaying of Ishbosheth, the capture of Zion, the defeat of the Philistines, the bringing up of the ark and the slaying of Uzzah, the plan to build a temple, victories over various kingdoms, kindness to Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, war with Ammon and Syria, sin against Uriah, and disgrace and sorrow through Amnon and Absalom and flight from Jerusalem. It shows the difficulties David encountered, including rebellion against him, his return to Jerusalem, and his troubles with Joab.
After Absalom's revolt was put down, a quarrel between the men of Judah and the men of Israel gave occasion for the revolt of Sheba the son of Bichri. At that time every man of Israel went up from after David and followed Sheba, but the men of Judah clave unto their king from Jordan even to Jerusalem. That revolt threatened to prove very serious.
The verse belongs to the continuing punishment and judgments coming upon David for his great wickedness in the case of Uriah. Those judgments came in complete fulfillment of the denunciation spoken by the prophet Nathan. By that transgression David gave great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme and showed the consequences of his sin.
It belongs also to the account of family troubles, upheavals, disgrace and sorrow that followed David's multiplying of wives. It shows the awful evil of a multiplicity of wives, to which the miseries that came upon David may largely be traced. Those miseries unfolded amid the sad consequences of having many wives and sons he was unable to control.
Its detailed and faithful telling does not hide or excuse the sins of even the greatest of kings but places them on record together with David's own humble confession of his transgression. That faithfulness stamps it as inspired and makes it instructive and helpful. Sheba's rebellion stands in it as one of the trials in David's life.