Daniel bar Jamin is an 18-year-old Galilean living under the Roman occupation of Palestine. A Zealot (or fighter for Galilean Jewish freedom), he lives with a rebel band in a cave overlooking his home village of Ketzah. One day he encounters Joel bar Hezron, a former classmate from synagogue school, and Joel’s twin sister, Malthace (or Thacia), sightseeing on the mountain. Awkward, yet anxious for news of his grandmother and younger sister Leah back home, he approaches the twins. They recognize him as the runaway apprentice of the village blacksmith Amalek.
The twins don’t know much about Daniel’s family, but they invite him to share their lunch. Though wary, Daniel slowly relaxes enough to tell them his story. After suffering much abuse, he fled Amalek five years ago. Since then, he’s worked for the outlaw Zealot, Rosh, who is training a band of men to fight and overthrow the occupiers. The boys talk about their shared hatred of the Romans and their hope that the Messiah will soon arrive to liberate the Jewish people.
As Daniel escorts his new friends down the mountain, he’s summoned to join Rosh’s men in seizing an enslaved man from a passing caravan. Joel jumps into the action, too, and tells Rosh he’d like to work for him. Rosh says he’ll send for Joel in due time. Back in Rosh’s cave, Daniel is given the job of filing the chains off the former slave Samson’s wrists. Though Samson does not seem to talk or fully understand Daniel, he bows in gratitude after Daniel frees him. He quickly grows attached and loyal to Daniel.
A few weeks later, a fellow former apprentice, Simon the Zealot, brings Daniel the message that their old master Amalek is dead, freeing Daniel to visit the village. Daniel reluctantly goes to his grandmother’s house. He is grieved to find his grandmother bent and frail, and Leah, who has been allegedly demon-possessed since childhood, remains weak and fearful, never leaving the house. The next morning, Simon stops by and invites Daniel to attend the synagogue service with him. The visiting preacher, Jesus, is intriguing, but his message is baffling—he tells the people to repent because God’s kingdom is near, but he says nothing about overthrowing the Romans. That night, Daniel retreats to the mountain again.
Weeks later Daniel, restless, travels to the city of Capernaum, where Joel’s family has moved, to visit them. He feels out of place in Joel’s and Thacia’s wealthy villa, and their father, Hezron, kicks Daniel out for his violent Zealot sympathies. Before he can leave Capernaum, Daniel gets into an altercation with a Roman soldier and is badly injured. He flees back to Joel’s house, where the twins conceal him in an obscure passageway and nurse him back to health. While Daniel heals, Joel reads him passages from the Bible and the story of the Maccabees. On Thacia’s urging, Daniel also tells the story of his father’s death at Roman hands, crucified with several others who tried to rebel. Therefore, ever since childhood, Daniel has vowed to avenge his father by fighting and killing Romans. Leah, too, has been traumatized ever since. Joel and Thacia, moved by Daniel’s story, vow to join him in fighting for “God’s Victory.” They decide that a bronze bow, an image from one of the Psalms, will be the symbol of their bond and pledge.
The next time Daniel visits Capernaum, Simon introduces him and Joel to Jesus. Daniel sees Jesus heal some sick people and hears him tell a crowd of the poor that they belong to God’s kingdom. Daniel can’t understand how this could be true, since these miserable people cannot fight the Romans. Not long after, Daniel’s grandmother dies. Simon, who has decided to follow Jesus as a disciple, asks Daniel to take over his blacksmith shop. He and Leah can move into the adjoining house; that way, Daniel can both provide for Leah and keep an eye on her. Though he feels trapped, Daniel agrees. Now that he has a proper shop with real tools, Daniel soon gains a reputation for his fine work. He reconciles himself to serving the occasional Roman customer, though he resents a certain blond soldier who gazes curiously at Leah.
In the village, Daniel begins gathering and leading recruits—mostly raw, untested young men—to support Rosh and prepare to fight the Romans. “The bronze bow” is their password, and they begin meeting in an abandoned watchtower. Meanwhile, Thacia befriends Leah, who blossoms with newfound confidence. Daniel also begins going to Capernaum almost daily to hear Jesus’s teachings. Leah loves to hear about Jesus, especially the story of Jesus restoring a dead little girl to life, but she still refuses to leave the house.
Daniel’s band of recruits begins doing jobs for Rosh, but it’s mostly petty raiding and stealing, which disappoints Daniel. But one day, Joel, who’s been spying for Rosh, is taken prisoner by the Romans. Rosh refuses to help, causing Daniel to see his former mentor’s self-serving nature. He decides to lead the boys in a raid to rescue Joel themselves. The group conceals themselves on a mountainside and throws rocks on the detachment of Roman soldiers who are leading the prisoners past. Just as they’re about to be overpowered by the Romans, Samson appears, saving Daniel’s life and breaking Joel’s chains with his bare hands. In the process, Samson is fatally wounded, and another of Daniel’s recruits, Nathan, is killed. Heartbroken, Daniel is totally disillusioned with Rosh’s cause.
Joel moves to Jerusalem to study to be a rabbi. Before he goes, he tells Daniel to warn Jesus that synagogue leaders see him as a threat and are conspiring against him. But when Daniel speaks to Jesus alone, he ends up confessing his guilt over Samson’s death and his desire to avenge his friend. Jesus tells Daniel that Samson’s love can’t be repaid by hatred—after all, killing only causes hate to multiply. Jesus asks Daniel to follow him by loving others, but Daniel declines, feeling constrained by his vow to fight.
A few days later, Daniel watches Thacia dance at the Day of Atonement festival and admits his love for her. However, he tells her that because his loyalty is to God’s victory, he can’t marry her. When he gets home, he learns that Leah has befriended the blond Roman soldier, Marcus, in secret. He flies into a rage, and Leah retreats into silent depression once again. When Daniel goes to Capernaum to seek Jesus’s help for Leah, Simon tells him he is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, but he also believes that Jesus will never march against the Romans. Instead, Jesus offers his followers peace in their hearts right now, if they refuse to let hatred and fear rule them. Daniel is disgusted and returns home.
Eventually, Leah falls sick with a delirious fever. Even when she is dying, Daniel refuses to let Marcus, who’s hovering outside the house, visit her. Instead he sends a message to Thacia that Leah is dying. When Thacia shows up, she brings Jesus with her. Jesus prays at Leah’s bedside, and she is soon restored to health. Seeing this, Daniel also surrenders to Jesus at last. He realizes that even though he doesn’t understand Jesus’s mission for God’s kingdom, he trusts Jesus and wants to give up his hatred in order to be part of that mission. Now that Daniel is freed from a life of fighting, he and Thacia make a wordless vow to one another to get married. Then, as Daniel steps outside to thank Jesus, he sees Marcus standing there. He remembers Jesus’s words of love and invites Marcus to come inside.
