And all his servants walked by him, and the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the Gethites, valiant warriors, six hundred men who had followed him from Geth on foot, went before the king.

And all his servants passed on by his side; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

And all his servants are passing on at his side, and all the Cherethite, and all the Pelethite, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came at his feet from Gath, are passing on at the front of the king.

And all the people went on by his side; and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the men of Ittai of Gath, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, went on before the king.

And all his servants were walking beside him. And the legions of the Cerethites and Phelethites, and all the Gittites, powerful fighters, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath on foot, were preceding the king.

Passed on - Rather, "crossed" the Brook Kidron, as in 2-Samuel 15:22-23.
Gittites - During David's residence in the country of the Philistines he attached such a band to himself; and after the settlement of his kingdom, and the subjugation of the Philistines, the band received recruits from Gath, perhaps with the king of Gath's consent. They were now under the command of Ittai the Gittite, a foreigner 2-Samuel 15:19, and "his brethren" 2-Samuel 15:20. The number 600 probably indicates that this band or regiment of Gittites had its origin in David's band of 600 1-Samuel 23:13; 1-Samuel 27:2. They were at first, it is likely, all Israelites, then Gittites mixed with Israelites, and at last all Gittites.

And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the (k) Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.
(k) These were as the king's guard, or as some write, his counsellors.

And all his servants passed on beside him,.... Or at his hand or side; his household servants walking perhaps some on one side of him, and some on the other, see 2-Samuel 16:6,
and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites; which were his bodyguards, see 2-Samuel 8:18,
and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath; which either came with him from Gath, when he conquered that city, and took it out of the hands of the Philistines, 2-Samuel 8:1; compared with 1-Chronicles 18:1; and who might become proselytes, and be incorporated into the commonwealth of Israel, and into David's army, a troop of men, of which Ittai, after mentioned, was captain, 2-Samuel 15:22; or else these were Israelites, so called, because with David they sojourned in Gath a while, when he fled from Saul; and so Josephus (l) says, they were companions of him in his first flight, when Saul was living; and this number is just the number of the men that were with him at Gath, 1-Samuel 27:2; and it may be David kept a troop of men always of the same number, to whom he gave this name in memory of them, having been a set of trusty and faithful men to him: these, with the Cherethites and Pelethites:
passed on before the king: in this form and manner David and his men marched in their flight.
(l) Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9.) sect. 2.

all the Gittites, six hundred men--These were a body of foreign guards, natives of Gath, whom David, when in the country of the Philistines, had enlisted in his service, and kept around his person. Addressing their commander, Ittai, he made a searching trial of their fidelity in bidding them (2-Samuel 15:19) abide with the new king.

And all his servants, i.e., his state officers and attendants, went along by his side, and the whole body-guard (the Crethi and Plethi: see at 2-Samuel 8:18); and all the Gathites, namely the six hundred men who had come in his train from Gath, went along in front of the king. David directed the fugitives to all into rank, the servants going by his side, and the body-guard and the six hundred old companions in arms, who probably also formed a kind of body-guard, marching in front. The verb עבר (passed on) cannot be understood as signifying to file past on account of its connection with על־ידו (beside him, or by his side). The expression Gittim is strange, as we cannot possibly think of actual Gathites or Philistines from Gath. The apposition (the six hundred men, etc.) shows clearly enough that the six hundred old companions in arms are intended, the men who gathered round David on his flight from Saul and emigrated with him to Gath (1-Samuel 27:2-3), who afterwards lived with him in Ziklag (1-Samuel 27:8; 1-Samuel 29:2; 1-Samuel 30:1, 1-Samuel 30:9), and eventually followed him to Hebron and Jerusalem (2-Samuel 2:3; 2-Samuel 5:6). In all probability they formed a separate company of well-tried veterans or a kind of body-guard in Jerusalem, and were commonly known as Gathites.
(Note: The Septuagint also has πάντες οἱ Γεθαῖοι, and has generally rendered the Masoretic text correctly. But כּל־עבדיו has been translated incorrectly, or at all events in a manner likely to mislead, viz., πάντες οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ. But in the Septuagint text, as it has come down to us, another paraphrase has been interpolated into the literal translation, which Thenius would adopt as an emendation of the Hebrew text, notwithstanding the fact that the critical corruptness of the Alexandrian text must be obvious to every one.)

Gittites - Or rather strangers, as Ittai their head is called, 2-Samuel 15:19, and they are called his brethren, 2-Samuel 15:20. Probably they were Philistines by birth, born in the city or territory of Gath, as the following words imply, who by David's counsel, and example, were won to embrace the true religion, and had given good proof of their military skill, and valour, and fidelity to the king.