He went; either,
1. Joab, who pursued Sheba through all the tribes as far as Abel. Or rather,
2. Sheba, who was last mentioned, who marched from tribe to tribe to stir them up to sedition; and to him the following words seem best to agree. Unto Abel, and to Beth-aachah, or rather, to Abel, even to Beth-maachah, i.e. unto Abel-beth-maachah, as this place is called here in the Hebrew text, 2 Samuel 20:15 1 Kings 15:20 2 Kings 15:29, to distinguish it from other Abels; and to signify that this was that Abel which was in the tribe of Naphtali in the northern border of Canaan, towards that part of Syria called Maachah, 2 Samuel 10:8. The Berites; such as lived in the city or territory of Beeroth of Benjamin, Joshua 18:25, who being of the same tribe, if not city, with Sheba, and his greatest acquaintance and friends, or being most implacable against David, adhered to Sheba, and followed him through all the tribes of Israel. They were gathered together, to wit, the tribes of Israel, i. e. a considerable number of them; as might well be expected, when the discontents were so high and general. After him, i.e. after Sheba.