The Bronze Bow: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Daniel still hasn’t recovered fully from his wounds. By the time he staggers up the mountain, he isn’t sure he’ll make it. Suddenly Samson hurries down the trail and scoops Daniel up. He carries Daniel carefully back to the cave. For the next few days, he lovingly nurses Daniel back to health. Some of the other men admire Daniel’s run-in with the Roman soldier. Before long, however, they forget about it.

For Daniel, though, life is no longer the same. He loves Rosh; he has fought alongside Rosh’s men. But Joel and Thacia (which is Malthace’s nickname) are the first friends he’s ever had who’ve actually talked with him and shared his burdens. While he heals, Daniel recalls the Bible stories Joel read aloud. He’s most inspired, though, by Judas Maccabeus.

Daniel also thinks about Thacia. He’s puzzled by her; he doesn’t understand girls very well in general. Thacia is unpredictable and disturbing to Daniel. Though she is so different from Leah, she, like Leah, feels like a threat to Daniel’s plans.

About a week after Daniel has resumed his blacksmithing work, Rosh brings him a special dagger he wants Daniel to mend. It’s a kind of good luck charm for Rosh, but it’s gotten damaged. Daniel knows he doesn’t have the right tools to repair the dagger. Rosh tells him to get supplies from Simon, but he refuses to offer any money for the expensive parts needed.

When Daniel reaches Ketzah the next day, he finds Simon’s smithy closed down. A villager tells him that Simon left town a month ago to follow a traveling preacher. Daniel realizes Simon has followed Jesus, and he tries to imagine what could have kept Simon away for all this time. He refuses to steal from his friend, so he decides to go to Capernaum in search of him.

When Daniel reaches Capernaum, he goes straight to the harbor. He learns that Jesus won’t be preaching until tomorrow. In the meantime, Jesus can probably be found in the home of Simon bar Jonas in the neighboring town of Bethsaida. It’s still early, so Daniel decides to visit his friends first. He scratches the symbol of the bow on the wall outside the passageway at Hezron’s house and crawls inside. After a long wait, Joel enters the passage. Daniel invites Joel to come along to meet Jesus. Curious, Joel agrees.

At dusk, Daniel and Joel walk to the fishing village of Bethsaida. On the way, they encounter a couple with a young boy. The man explains that they’re seeking Simon bar Jonas’s house, too; in fact, they’ve walked all the way from Cana in search of the preacher, Jesus. The woman shows them her son’s swollen hand. It was bitten by a camel two months ago and is still unhealed; they hope Jesus can fix it. They’ve heard many stories of Jesus’s healings. Daniel is puzzled.

Soon, they reach Simon bar Jonas’s house. The courtyard is crowded with people, many of them ill or injured. When Daniel speaks to a man by the door, the man explains that Jesus is finishing his supper and will come out soon. He calls Simon for Daniel. Simon insists on introducing the boys to “the master” and guides them into the house. When Daniel faces Jesus, he is struck by Jesus’s kind yet searching gaze.

The boys are seated at the table. Before Jesus can break bread, someone interrupts, objecting that no water was provided for the ceremonial hand-washing. The women of the house are dismayed, but Jesus reassures them—he says it’s more important that people’s hearts be prepared to receive the food than their hands. He blesses and passes the bread. Daniel notices that Joel looks troubled as he begins to eat the bread.

After the meal, Jesus goes outside. He is immediately greeted by pleading voices. The outcry grows quieter as Jesus calmly moves among the people, speaking to them and sometimes touching them. At one point, a woman cries out that she has been cured. When Daniel sees the family he’d met earlier, he follows them to find out what their encounter with Jesus was like. Shaken, the man tells Daniel that his son’s arm is healed. Though the arm remains swollen, the little boy says it no longer hurts. At first, Daniel is angry, thinking it’s a trick.

Back at the house, Simon tells the boys that he has seen many people healed. He can’t explain why Jesus doesn’t heal every person who asks for it. Simon suggests that those who are healed seem to possess faith of some kind—an ability to surrender to Jesus.

Jesus addresses the people gathered there. He tells them that in God’s sight, they are more precious than many sparrows. He also promises them that God has a place for them in his kingdom. Daniel can’t understand this. These suffering people are incapable of fighting for the kingdom—so what can it possibly mean to them?

Jesus, who looks very tired, is guided back to the house by his disciples. Then Daniel remembers his errand and speaks to Simon about it. Simon observes that Daniel puts a lot of faith in Rosh. He directs Daniel to an ironworker in Capernaum who can help him. For the time being, Simon will stay with Jesus. Daniel asks if Jesus is a Zealot. Simon doesn’t have an answer for that—and what’s more, he doesn’t care. He just wants to be with Jesus.

As Daniel and Joel walk away, Joel is troubled. He doesn’t understand how that crowd of people could be considered children of God—after all, they do not observe the Law. He thinks Hezron is probably right that Jesus is a dangerous influence. And yet, he still feels drawn to Jesus in a way he can’t express.