2 Samuel 18:16

16 And Joab had the horn sounded, and the people came back from going after Israel, for Joab kept them back.

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 Then Joab said, I would have made it safe for you. And he took three spears in his hand, and put them through Absalom's heart, while he was still living, in the branches of the tree.

15 And ten young men, servants of Joab, came round Absalom and put an end to him.

16 And Joab had the horn sounded, and the people came back from going after Israel, for Joab kept them back.

17 And they took Absalom's body and put it into a great hole in the wood, and put a great mass of stones over it: and every man of Israel went in flight to his tent.

18 Now Absalom, before his death, had put up for himself a pillar in the king's valley, naming it after himself; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory: and to this day it is named Absalom's pillar.