2 Samuel 18:16

16 Joab then blew the ram's horn trumpet, calling off the army in its pursuit of Israel.

2 Samuel 18:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 18:16

And Joab blew the trumpet
As the sign of a retreat:

and the people returned from pursuing after Israel;
upon the sound of the trumpet, the meaning of which they understood:

for Joab held back the people:
from shedding any more blood; the head of the conspiracy being removed, the thing would be crushed at once; and Joab neither chose to slay any more, nor take any prisoners, to be tried as traitors, being unawares, without thought, drawn into this rebellion.

2 Samuel 18:16 In-Context

14 Joab said, "I can't waste my time with you." He then grabbed three knives and stabbed Absalom in the heart while he was still alive in the tree;

15 by then Absalom was surrounded by ten of Joab's armor bearers; they hacked away at him and killed him.

16 Joab then blew the ram's horn trumpet, calling off the army in its pursuit of Israel.

17 They took Absalom, dumped him into a huge pit in the forest, and piled an immense mound of rocks over him. Meanwhile the whole army of Israel was in flight, each man making his own way home.

18 While alive, Absalom had erected for himself a pillar in the Valley of the King, "because," he said, "I have no son to carry on my name." He inscribed the pillar with his own name. To this day it is called "The Absalom Memorial."