Charles Spurgeon Commentary 2 Samuel 15:16-18

"And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, that were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him; and they tarried in Beth-merhak. And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men that came after him from Gath, passed on before the king." — 2 Samuel 15:16-18 (ASV)

And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.

And the king went forth, and all the people after him and tarried in a place that was far off. And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

These were his old guard, soldiers whom he always kept near him, deeply attached to him, upon whose loyalty he could rely. But what a come-down from the King of Israel to have an army of only six hundred men – to be fleeing before his own rebellious people, led on by his more rebellious son!

And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.

And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was far off. And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath passed on before the king.

The king's bodyguard of personal friends, who had seen long service with him in the contest with Saul, these kept close to him.