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Chapter 19
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
As the autumn rains move in, the boys no longer meet in the watchtower. They murmur about starting to stockpile weapons and resume their preparations. But Daniel knows that he and his friends have “lost faith in the mountain.”
The group’s experiences in the raid have broken their confidence in Rosh’s way of doing things.
Themes
Daniel gets back to work, progressing slowly because of ongoing pain in his shoulder. He keeps thinking of Jesus’s words: “They who live by the sword will perish by the sword.” Before, he thought of “living by the sword” as the best life. But now that he’s taken the sword, all he has seen is death—with Samson’s and Nathan’s deaths on his head. Freedom is no closer than before.
Daniel has lived his whole life “by the sword,” or by using fighting to get what he wants. (The saying is found in the Gospel of Matthew.) For the first time, though, he questions whether fighting leads to freedom. He only feels imprisoned by guilt, complicit in the deaths of those he loved.
Themes
Other things have changed since the raid. Joktan has been a great help to Daniel. He’s never lived in a house before, so he gratefully sleeps on the roof, gets water from the well, delivers goods, and generally relishes village life. But Daniel hasn’t seen Joel and Thacia for more than a week, and he worries.
Daniel tries to regain a sense of normalcy in his life. He’s able to offer shelter for young Joktan, showing his generous nature. But his certainties about life—especially his sense of purpose in fighting for the kingdom—are lost.
Themes
Late one evening, a stranger, wrapped in a heavy cloak, knocks on Daniel’s door. Joyfully, Daniel recognizes Joel. Joel explains that he’s been watched, so he hasn’t been venturing out. He’s told his father everything. Far from hating Daniel, Hezron welcomes him into their home at any time. But Joel says he’s snuck out of his father’s house for the last time. He wants to join Rosh’s band on the mountain. His father wants him to study in Jerusalem, leaving tomorrow. Daniel is moved by Joel’s loyalty, but he’s also troubled. He tells Joel that he no longer trusts Rosh as a leader. Nothing Rosh is doing has helped weaken Rome; it has only weakened his followers.
Even after his brush with death, Joel is willing to give up everything for Rosh’s cause. This is exactly what Daniel has been working toward. Yet his faith in Rosh is now fatally undermined, and he receives Joel’s expression of loyalty with ambivalence. After the near disaster in the raid, not to mention Rosh’s refusal to help, Daniel is totally disillusioned with Rosh and his way of resisting Rome. In fact, he doesn’t believe that’s truly Rosh’s goal after all.
Themes
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Daniel agrees with Joel that a new, better leader will come someday. But until then, he wants Joel to keep studying. He tells Joel that the movement won’t just need fighters and laborers, but scholars, too—especially scholars like Joel, who might be able to win over the priests. As Joel considers this, he feels renewed hope. He feels he’s been given a second chance to do something worthwhile with his life.
Daniel’s outlook on the cause has shifted. He used to believe that fighting for Israel’s freedom was all about violence. Now he sees differently—the fight is multifaceted and needs the gifts of all sorts of people. His willingness to encourage Joel not to fight shows how much his thinking has changed—and what a good leader he is.
Themes
Joel has brought a gift for Leah from Thacia. Daniel is skeptical that Leah will receive it from Joel’s hands, but he opens the door to the house. Leah is shaking, but Joel gently conveys Thacia’s greetings and places a package on the threshold. Daniel is amazed—it’s only the second time Leah has allowed an outsider to get this close. Joel also has a message for Daniel—in a few days, Thacia will dance in the festival for the Day of Atonement. She wants Daniel to come to Capernaum for the festival. Finally, he promises Joel that if Daniel ever has to go away, he and Thacia will take care of Leah.
Leah has overcome her fears to the extent that she’s willing to get close to Joel—a huge development. Thacia’s invitation suggests that she continues to reciprocate Daniel’s feelings for her. And Joel and Thacia’s willingness to care for Leah is a further indication of the friends’ deep trust in one another.
Themes
Joel also says that Hezron wants to arrange a marriage for Thacia with a family friend, but Thacia is refusing. Daniel says that Thacia must make a choice, and that it will be better for her to marry someone who is like her. Besides, how can someone like him—who is sworn to vengeance—get married? Joel doesn’t reply.
Joel’s message about Thacia’s marriage shows that he’s aware of Daniel’s feelings for his sister. Daniel maintains that he isn’t a suitable match for Thacia. He claims they are too different and that his loyalty to Israel’s freedom precludes loyalty to anything else.
Themes
Joel has one last message. He tells Daniel that somebody needs to warn Jesus—he has enemies everywhere. Not just Romans, but synagogue elders. They don’t understand him and believe he is trying to tear down their authority. Some even accuse Jesus of being in league with Satan. Joel wonders if Jesus is the leader they’ve been looking for all along. Daniel promises to try to warn Jesus. The friends join hands “for God’s Victory” one last time. As Daniel shuts the door, he fears it’s the end of everything they’ve worked for.
Jesus is making enemies everywhere he goes—both among the Romans and among his fellow Jews. Both groups see Jesus as a threat to their authority. the boys suspect that Jesus might be the one who really stands for Israel’s freedom after all. But, no longer loyal to Rosh and watching the breakup of his own group, Daniel no longer knows how to join that fight.
Themes
