104 pages • 3 hours read •
The Bronze Bow
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Chapters 22-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 22 Summary
On the Day of Atonement, holiday spirit stirs the street. When the sound of singing drifts into the shop at noon, Daniel asks Leah if she will come with him to see Malthace. Leah asks Daniel go and tell her all about it. Leah gives Daniel his clean woolen cloak to wear and laughs at his grumbling. On the way to the city, Daniel keeps aloof from holiday travelers with his unhappy, scowling face. At the vineyards, Daniel sees that even in his best clothes he stands out as a peasant and a smith. He dares not approach the elegant youth as they jostle and gest.
The merriment suddenly halts as the boys make way for a line of singing girls dressed in white with wreaths of flowers in their hair. Daniel’s breath catches when he sees Malthace swaying gently. Daniel notices her gazing searchingly at the men. Terrified to see whom she is searching for, he turns away. Malthace follows him and cries out, asking why he left. Daniel tells her that she did him no kindness, but he is glad to have seen her dance so he can tell Leah. Malthace asks if that was his only purpose. Miserably, Daniel tells her that she belongs with her friends. He admits that he will remember the woman’s face he saw when he woke in the passage for as long as he lives. Malthace glows with happiness and lifts her face to his. Daniel tells her that he never meant for her to know and reminds her of his oath. Malthace argues that she also took the vow and that there are more ways to fight. Daniel pleads with her not to torment him and to let him go. Malthace doesn’t hide her hurt and stands still, praying God goes with him.
Though Daniel is weary and doesn’t want to talk about the festival, Leah’s eager eyes leave him no option. On an impulse, he makes a flower garland and sets it on her golden hair. Enchanted, Leah touches the flowers and starts to dance. Daniel tells her that she is prettier than most and should have danced with them. Leah asks if someone other than Malthace and Daniel might think so. Leah has a surprise for Daniel: a woven basket filled with fine fruit that no Galilean ever keeps for their own table. Leah shares that it was a gift from Marcus, the Roman soldier. Enraged, Daniel kicks the basket and demands to know how she knows his name. Leah shares that Marcus has been her friend since last summer. He sits on his horse in the garden and speaks to Leah about his family and little village in Gallia that the Romans conquered.
When Daniel threatens to tear his tongue out, Leah falls to Daniel’s feet and cries that she will die if Daniel hurts him. Daniel commands her to promise to never speak to or show herself to Marcus again. He tells her she has brought shame on his and Simon’s house, on their father’s name, and on Israel. Leaving Leah with her head on the ground, Daniel rushes through the village streets searching for Marcus. Despite his bitter loathing, no law forbids such interactions. He realizes Leah doesn’t understand what Rome is and simply saw a boy her age with hair like her own. He regrets shouting at her and decides to make it up to her. Back home, Leah sits in the corner and doesn’t raise her head when Daniel comes in.
Chapter 23 Summary
The few moments have undone the work of months—Leah is once again a wan, cowering ghost. The only change is that Leah now fears Daniel. She trembles, cringes whenever he enters, and refuses to eat when he is in the room. When the hope of Jesus begins to ignite in his mind, Daniel wonders if Jesus can cast out the silent demons. During his sleepless nights, Daniel forgets his doubts and remembers only the kindness in Jesus’s eyes.
When Daniel finally heads to Capernaum, he finds the fishing boats deserted. Daniel hurries after the great mass of people he can see in the distance. Daniel hears Jesus’s voice over the tumultuous crowd. The people are pushing, shoving, and craning their necks in a frenzy he has never seen before. A man tells him that Jesus is the Messiah and to listen. A voice screams that it is the day of the Lord. Daniel’s heart leaps with joy at the thought that Jesus has declared himself. When Daniel asks what Jesus told them, the man says that Jesus did better than simply saying something—he fed them. There is bread scattered on the ground. Daniel wonders how there could be bread for what must be thousands of people. The people shout in a frenzy to let Jesus be king. Daniel can’t see Jesus and wishes Joel were there to see the end of their waiting.
Simon calls out to Daniel that Jesus has gone. Though the crowd pleads with Jesus to become king, he leaves into the hills and requests that no one follow him. All around Daniel, the shouts of joy give way to cries of anger. Daniel questions what Jesus wants and what sort of man he is. Simon believes Jesus is the Messiah sent from God but that he will never lead them against Rome. The words hit Daniel with a blow—Joel, Malthace, and even Jesus himself tried to tell him. Simon shares that in a way he already has the kingdom. He knows nothing in Israel has changed, but he believes that it will.
When he sees Jesus caring for even the lowest of people instead of the rich and learned, Simon knows that God has not forgotten them. When Daniel questions how free they will be if they are dragged to prison, Simon responds, “He says that the only chains that matter are fear and hate, because they chain our souls. If we do not hate anyone and do not fear anyone, then we are free” (243). Simon wholeheartedly believes that Jesus is the hope of Israel. Still dissatisfied, Daniel questions what Jesus has done to prove it. Simon answers that God hides the future and they are forced to choose without knowing. Though Jesus’s promise is enough for Simon, it isn’t enough for Daniel. Stumbling in the darkness, Daniel is unable to see his way and knows he has not a friend nor leader, only his hatred and vow.
Chapter 24 Summary
At the coming of spring, Daniel grimly and steadily works. Leah has forgotten her loom and the little pleasures she once enjoyed. She sits idly with her hands in her lap. Daniel believes they are both alike, as they cannot learn to hope again. However, though she lost everything, he still has a purpose. His hatred is stronger than ever and needs an outlet before it destroys him. Daniel wonders if he can find a band of Zealots, but he is chained to his forge and a girl indifferent to her survival. He doubts he can recognize a man he can trust without being duped again. Thinking again to the Song of David, Daniel questions the use of his strong hands if God did not mean the bow of bronze for him.
After Leah’s goat dies of the fever, Leah too becomes feverish. Her eyes glaze, and she cries out in terror. The physician tells Daniel there is nothing he can do. Daniel bolts his shop and sits beside Leah. He thinks of all those who touched his life and left him—Rosh, Samson, Malthace, Simon, and Jesus. Though Leah’s death would leave him free, freedom seems a terror of emptiness. Jesus’s words come back to him—“Can you repay love with vengeance?” (247). Leah loved Daniel with a simple heart and perished from the sword meant for Rome, just as Samson did. Daniel realizes Malthace should know and sends a message with Joktan, who doesn’t return. Daniel sees Marcus in front of his house and wants to attack the Roman boy with all his strength but decides not to while Leah lies dying. The next day, Marcus asks to speak to Daniel. He shares that he understands Daniel’s hate, as his people, the Germans, were conquered by Rome. Tomorrow his cohort will be transferred to Corinth, and he requests to see Leah, the one good thing in this rotting land, before leaving. Even if she were not Jewish, legionaries are forbidden to marry. Daniel says he would not profane his house even if it would save Leah’s life. Marcus’s face goes white before he rigidly walks away.
On the third day of Joktan’s absence, Daniel is woken by the sound of the door. Framed against the sunlight stands Jesus in his white robe, with Malthace behind him. Jesus moves to Leah and sits beside her. When he looks to Daniel, it is clear Jesus understands about Leah. In Daniel’s eyes he sees the bitterness, hatred, betrayed hopes, and loneliness—and smiles. Daniel knows he wants to stop fighting and give everything to follow him. Thinking to his vow and the words that always strengthened him, he remembers that Jesus called men to make ready with their hearts and minds instead. Daniel wonders then if only love can bend the bow of bronze.
Glimpsing a new way that he doesn’t understand, he realizes he must choose without knowing—knowing Jesus is enough. In an instant, the terrible weight is replaced with strength, sureness, and peace. Leah wakes up, looking with wonder into Jesus’s eyes. Jesus smiles to her and tells her not to be afraid. Daniel stumbles to his knees and sheds the tears bottled inside since his father’s death. He then glances at Malthace as they make a silent new vow together, now that he is free to offer her all he has. As Leah comments on how light it is even with Jesus gone, Daniel springs to the door and sees Jesus in the distance, determined to go after him and thank him. When he sees Marcus standing alone in the sun, he turns instead to him and invites him into his home to say goodbye to Leah.
Chapters 22-24 Analysis
In the final chapters, the urgency of Daniel’s internal struggle between love and hate intensifies. When Daniel starts to accept love and heads toward the right path, the demons pull him back into his dark, hateful demeanor. Seeing Malthace among people of high status makes him feel out of place. He pushes away love for the sake of protecting his ego, further fueling his tendency towards hatred and vengeance. Learning that Leah loves a Roman soldier pushes Daniel to his demons, as he is unable to consider any Roman to be human. Any last bit of hope is snuffed out when Jesus disappears on the plain after revealing that he is the Messiah. Jesus’s disappearance angers the people, who only wish for him to be their king and fight the Romans. Simon’s statement that Jesus will never fight the Romans confirms Daniel’s worst fears. Whatever exhilarating hope he felt on his way to see Jesus evaporates, and he no longer believes in him.
The narrator depicts just how lost Daniel is through the imagery of the darkness surrounding him: “He could not see his way, but he knew that from now on he was alone. There was no friend to fight beside him. There was no leader to follow. There was nothing left to him but his hatred and his vow” (244). Daniel is lost and confused in the face of Simon’s certainty that he already has the kingdom. Daniel believes the kingdom can only be attained by driving out the Romans. However, it is repeatedly suggested that perhaps the Romans can learn to love and be accepted into the kingdom, a possibility that goes against all that Daniel believes in. Jesus’s statement that the true chains are fear and hate frustrates Daniel. He himself is chained by hatred, and his despair for his own situation makes him all the more stubborn in sticking to his path of vengeance. Even when he learns that vengeance is not the way, he believes that he can do nothing else.
When reflecting on his experiences, Daniel begins to understand the truth in Jesus’s words. Daniel once believed that perishing by the sword when taking arms was an honorable death. He realizes too late that those closest to him suffer from his violent hatred. Both Leah and Samson, who loved him with sincerity, suffer or perish due to Daniel’s hatred for the Romans. His intense desire to fight causes Samson to sacrifice himself to save Daniel. Similarly, his hatred for the young Roman legionary causes him to push Leah back into the darkness. He understands the truth that love cannot be repaid with vengeance—only with more love. When Jesus arrives at Daniel’s darkest, most hopeless moment, he is finally able to give in to love and let go of his hatred and anger. Never able to hold on to both at the same time, he can finally embrace the love that Malthace has to offer.
As love and hatred are opposites, they can never coexist in Daniel’s heart. Though he realized long before that the true battle was that between love and hatred, it now occurs to him that only love can bend the bow of bronze that symbolizes their struggle for the impossible. With love, he can face and achieve anything he wishes. Taking up the sword and acting in violence only brings loss and pain. Daniel’s journey comes full circle when he accepts Jesus’s request to love for him. Though Daniel has taken many steps towards love along the way, his final and most solidifying step towards a life of love is when he invites Marcus, the Roman legionary, into their home to say goodbye to Leah.
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