The return of the king to his throne following the rebellion is marked by fierce political tension among the tribes, as each seeks to prove its loyalty and secure its standing. Arriving at Gilgal, the tribes of Israel bypass the tribe of Judah and direct their grievances straight to the king [אברבנאל]. They are deeply upset over the manner of his return, accusing Judah of effectively stealing him away. This accusation of theft means that the members of Judah brought the king back in secret, without seeking permission from the rest of the nation [מצודת דוד, רד״ק, אברבנאל], or that they treated him as their own exclusive property [שטיינזלץ].
This secretive action damaged the honor of both the king and the nation. Ideally, the entire nation should have been present to welcome him back. Instead, the covert move created a false impression that the rest of Israel had no desire for the king, making it seem as though only Judah wanted him [רד״ק]. It also robbed the other tribes, who made up the majority of the nation, of the privilege of being the first to greet him [אלשיך]. At the same time, framing Judah's actions as a theft gave the tribes of Israel a convenient excuse, serving as an apology for why they had not arrived in time to help the king cross the Jordan River [אברבנאל].
The tension is further fueled by the fact that Judah brought across not only the king but his entire army as well. Seeing the king cross with his warriors created a sense of betrayal. It made it appear as though he was relying on military might and the tribe of Judah to force his rule upon Israel, even though the other tribes were fully prepared to restore him willingly [מלבי״ם].
During their complaint, the tribes refer to the king's soldiers in the third person, rather than addressing him directly about his own men. Some commentators view this simply as a common conversational style of the time [רד״ק]. Others suggest a deeper political motive, noting that the tribes of Israel are pointing out how the king's men are actively siding with the tribe of Judah and advocating for them, since they all belong to the same tribe [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. Alternatively, this specific detail about the king's men might not be part of the tribes' spoken complaint at all. Instead, it may be an interjection by the author of the text to complete the picture, simply noting as a matter of historical record that the tribe of Judah also helped all of the king's men cross the river [אלשיך, אברבנאל].