Went forth … after him: this is a repetition of the same idea as in the previous verse and contains the same problems of interpretation. It should therefore be resolved in the same way in both cases. However, this verse speaks of all the people where verse 16 had “all his household.” The words all the people are generally taken as a more specific reference to the soldiers who had remained loyal to David. Fox translates this as “all the fighting-people.”

The last house: translators and commentators are divided on the meaning of the words so translated in Revised Standard Version. New International Version has “a place some distance away,” which is very similar to “a place that was far off” (King James Version). Revised English Bible and Fox speak of “the Far House,” using capital letters to imply a kind of name that was well known to the original readers or hearers. Goldman also takes it as a name and transliterates it “Beth-merhak.” Finally, New American Bible reads “opposite the ascent to the Mount of Olives, at a distance” (compare verse 30). The most likely meaning, however, is that David stopped on the outskirts of Jerusalem to review the troops that were still loyal to him. It seems best therefore to translate “the last house at the edge of the city” (Contemporary English Version) or possibly “at the end of the city where the last house stood.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .