All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is our close relative. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s expense? Or has he given us any gift?”
David came over Jordan attended and assisted only by the men of Judah; but when he had advanced as far as Gilgal, the first stage on this side Jordan, half the people of Israel (that is, of their elders and great men) had come to wait upon him, to kiss his hand, and congratulate him on his return, but found they came too late to...
Commenting on 2 Samuel 19:40-43
And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel,.... Such of them as went down to fetch the king back, replied to the men of Israel that now met them, and objected to their conduct: because the king is near of kin to us; being of their tribe, and his palace was within their borders, and therefore they were proper persons to bring...
THE ISRAELITES BRING THE KING BACK. (2Sa. 19:9-43) all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel--The kingdom was completely disorganized. The sentiments of three different parties are represented in Sa2 19:9-10 : the royalists, the adherents of Absalom who had been very numerous, and those who were indifferent to the Davidic dynasty.
Commenting on 2 Samuel 19:9-43