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Chapter 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Bronze Bow, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love vs. Vengeance
Trust, Dependence, and Friendship
Leadership: Power vs. Service
Earthly Hopes vs. Heavenly Values
Summary
Analysis
Leah’s confidence is growing. She doesn’t mind Daniel’s absences for meetings, and she spends more time working at her loom, even earning money for her fine work. One day Joel and Malthace come to visit. Joel and Daniel step out for a while to meet with a recruit who has some theological questions only Joel can answer. On the way back, Joel tells Daniel that he has gone back to Bethsaida several times to hear Jesus. Daniel is surprised to hear that Jesus has answered some of Joel’s questions about the Bible. Joel says that he doesn’t know where Jesus was trained, but he truly knows the Bible. He has a way of getting to the heart of what the scriptures say, even more than Rabbi Hezron does. Daniel wishes that Jesus and Rosh would join forces.
As Leah’s trust in Daniel and the security he provides grows stronger, she flourishes more and more. Up till now, Joel has been somewhat resistant to Jesus’s teachings. Jesus doesn’t neatly conform to Joel’s understanding of the Jewish Law. Yet Joel knows a serious Bible student when he meets one, and he respects Jesus even though he doesn’t understand him. For his part, Daniel cares less about Jesus’s theological position and more about his possible political alliance with Rosh. Daniel believes the two men’s goals are the same.
Themes
When the boys get back to the smithy, Daniel is surprised to find Thacia and Leah sitting together in the back garden. Leah happily tells Daniel that Thacia has come to visit her. Thacia shoots Daniel a warning glance. She says they’ve had a great time discussing Daniel in his absence. Daniel blushes, baffled by girls as always, but he’s touched by the smile on Leah’s face.
Leah’s openness to Thacia’s friendship shows how much she’s grown. Not long ago, she wouldn’t see anyone but Daniel inside the house. Even though this is Thacia’s first time visiting Leah, she treats her new friend’s feelings delicately—she silently warns Daniel not to make a big deal of this breakthrough so as not to embarrass his sister.
Themes
When Leah spots Joel, she shrinks behind her headscarf again. But Thacia gently places a gift in Leah’s lap—an embroidered girdle. Daniel watches as Leah traces the delicate embroidery with her finger. The gift jolts Daniel. He realizes that Leah makes beautiful cloth for rich women, but she dresses in rags herself. The next day, he makes his way to the market and awkwardly prowls among the sellers. Too embarrassed to haggle, he buys an overpriced length of blue cotton and hastily returns home. When Daniel presents Leah with the gift, she can’t believe the cloth is for her. Daniel hears her laugh for the first time.
Daniel is growing in sensitivity toward his sister, too. When Thacia’s gift causes him to recognize Leah’s poverty, it’s another example of Thacia’s ability to bring good out of Daniel. Days earlier, Daniel grumbled at having to fulfill the “womanly” duty of going to the well. Now he willingly braves the marketplace just to make his sister happy.
Themes
