Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel.
Gilgal ... all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel. Whether from impatience to move on, or from some other cause, David did not wait until the representatives of all the tribes had arrived to conduct him on his return to the capital. The procession began as soon as Amasa had brought the Judahite escort, and the preference given to this tribe produced a bitter jealousy, which was nearly kindling a civil war, fiercer than that which had just ended. A war of words ensued between the chiefs of the various tribes, Israel resting their argument on their superior numbers: 'they had ten parts in the king,' whereas Judah had no more than one. Judah rested their right to take the lead, on the ground of their nearer relationship to the king. This was a claim dangerous to the house of David; and it shows the seeds were already sown of that tribal dissension which ere long led to the dismemberment of the kingdom.