John Gill Commentary 2 Samuel 18:6

"So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim." — 2 Samuel 18:6 (ASV)

So the people went out into the field against Israel
Josephus ^F5 calls it a great field, with a wood behind it:

and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim ;
or near it ^F6 rather; not in a wood in the tribe of Ephraim, which lay on this side Jordan; whereas this battle was fought on the other side Jordan, in the land of Gilead, not far from Mahanaim, where was this wood;

and which was so called, either from the slaughter of the Ephraimites here in the times of Jephthah, (Judges 12:4–6) ; or from the Ephraimites feeding their cattle here and near it; for the Jews say ^F7 , that Joshua gave them a grant to feed their cattle in any wood in any of the tribes of Israel; and lying near Jordan, they used to drive their cattle over to this place, from which it had its name.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F5: Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 10.) sect. 2.
• F6: (reyb) "ad sylvam", Junius & Tremellius; "prope sylvam", Piscator.
• F7: In Jarchi, Kimchi, & Abarbinel, in loc.