10:21a

The whole army returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah: The clause returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah indicates that Joshua had made a temporary camp at Makkedah and waited there for the army to return from battle.

Makkedah: The town of Makkedah was mentioned in 10:10. Makkedah was in the southern part of Canaan, about 14 kilometers west of Hebron. Joshua made his camp there temporarily while the Israelite army attacked the towns in the south of Canaan.

General Comment on 10:20a-21a

It may be clearer in some languages to split this long sentence into several shorter sentences. For example:

20a Joshua and the Israelite soldiers killed almost all of the Amorite soldiers. 20b There were hardly any left alive. 20c Those who were still alive ran into their fortified towns. 21a Then all the Israelite soldiers returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah.

10:21b

no one dared to utter a word against the Israelites: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as no one dared to utter a word is more literally “not a man sharpened his tongue.” This Hebrew idiom indicates that none of the Canaanites criticized the Israelites or spoke anything bad about them, because they saw how powerful the Israelites were.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

no one dared to speak against any of the Israelites (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
no one uttered a word against the Israelites (New International Version)
-or-
no one around there dared say anything bad about the Israelites (Contemporary English Version)

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