יהושע, פרק י׳, פסוק ט״ו

Following a crushing victory, the military campaign reaches a highly successful pause. The Israelites head back to their camp having experienced a rare and perfect triumph. Not a single fighter was harmed in battle, and a deep dread fell upon their enemies, preventing any further attacks [רלב"ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This journey back was a direct extension of the day's great miracle. Because the sun had stood still, the soldiers were able to reach their camp before sunset, sparing them the difficulty of traveling through the dark of night [חומת אנך].

A chronological puzzle arises regarding this journey, as the narrative places the Israelites' return to the camp at Gilgal right before describing an ongoing pursuit of five enemy kings, their capture in a cave at Makkedah, and a subsequent return to a different camp at Makkedah. One approach resolves this by viewing the return to Gilgal as an event that actually took place much later, only after all the battles detailed in the rest of the account were fully completed [מצודת דוד]. In this way, the narrative offers a broad summary to close the miraculous day of war. The account then flashes back to provide the specific details of how that victory was achieved, including the hanging of the kings, the destruction of the armies, and the systematic capture of cities [אברבנאל].

Alternatively, the journey back to Gilgal might not represent a completed physical movement at all, but rather a strategic intention. Upon realizing that the enemy kings were not among the fallen, Joshua assumed they had fled back to their cities to gather new forces. Consequently, he planned to return to Gilgal to allow his people to rest and prepare for the next phase of the war. Biblical language often uses action words to describe a thought or a desire to do something, even if the plan was not immediately carried out [מלבי"ם].