The Bronze Bow

A fascinating perspective on the early ministry of Jesus from the perspective of the young zealot Daniel. After years of devoting his life to seeking vengeance on the Romans for the death of his parents, he eventually (if begrudgingly) finds the words of the new teacher Jesus more powerful than the hate he has built his life around.

The person of Jesus as described in the story seems a little too human, a little too weak; and the Disciples (though not named as such) may be a little too protective of their charge. The conversations with Simon and Jesus, however, feel plausible and true (which had me worried).


"Can you repay love with vengeance?"

Tightly-plotted, beautifully-written, and exciting story about Daniel bar Jamin from Galilee who longs for revenge against the Romans after his parents’ deaths.

Daniel forges weapons for a band of rebels in the hills, training for war against the oppressors. He and his reclusive sister befriend Joel, in training to be a Jewish scholar, and twin sister, Thace. Together these new friends take a vow of resistance against the Romans based on 2 Samuel 22:35 “He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.”

A trained blacksmith, Daniel knows just how strong a bronze bow would be, but his brief encounters with the carpenter from Nazareth, and with those who have met him, are gradually changing Daniel’s mind and show more heart.
The descriptions of the historical world feel convincing and Jesus is described in a very low-key, realistic way that is both compelling and natural.
On the other hand, the way “Samson”, the huge, Black, slave character, was portrayed made me uncomfortable, but maybe it was supposed to? He’s mute; it’s not clear if he understands what the others say to him, and the rebels pick his name. He later saves Daniel’s life—an action that wakes Daniel to the consequences of violent rebellion--but Samson is almost not a person, because he never speaks.

On the other hand, Samson’s death is a key turning point for Daniel. He thinks he has to revenge Samson’s death too, until Jesus suggests that Samson would probably prefer love to revenge.

Daniel says: “It’s too late to love Samson. He is probably dead.” Then, as Jesus waited, “Should I love the Romans who killed him?” he asked with bitterness.
Jesus smiled,”You think that is impossible, don’t you? Can’t you see, Daniel, it is hate that is the enemy?”

This book won the Newbery Medal in 1962, but the theme is unfortunately just as relevant today. I really enjoyed it, especially how Jesus was portrayed as a poser of questions with an inner vitality who could also be worn down by human behavior.

The book’s ending is an elegant plot twist and resolution in single line.

Elisabeth George Speare is probably best-known for The Witch of Blackbird Pond about a girl in 17th century America who is suspected of being a witch because she can swim. show less

I didn't intend to devour this book, honest. But the more pages I read, the more I wanted to see what happened next. It's the tale of a young man named Daniel. He's a Jewish guy living in the region of Galilee during the reign of the Roman emporer Tiberius. As the story starts, he's living in the hills with a band of robbers, having fled an unpleasant apprenticeship. Think "Robin Hood", and you'll get a picture of how the band likes to see themselves. Robbing from the rich and preparing for the day when they can throw off the rule of the accursed Romans. As the tale progresses, Daniel finds himself drawn back to the village and family that he thought he had left behind. These events and new friends challenge his views and push him in show more directions he doesn't want to go. It's a good tale which builds up a solid foundation of plot and characters, but then, towards the end, starts rushing along, practically wasting its potential. But I can forgive that because although the story comes to a screeching halt, it ends with a very satisfying conclusion. I'll have to make sure that this one stays on my shelf.
--J. show less

Let me first say that I really liked this 1962 Newbery winner, and I wasn’t expecting I would. Set during the time of Jesus, the main character, an 18-year-old Galilean named Daniel bar Jamin, fled his home and blacksmith master five years before and has been living on a nearby mountain with outlaws who are supposedly preparing for the day the Jews will rise up against their Roman masters. Daniel’s hatred of the Romans is especially strong, given that they crucified his father, which led to his mother’s death and younger sister Leah’s regression into fear and solitude.

As the book opens, Daniel meets a brother and sister, Joel and Malthace (also called Thacia) who become a major part of the story, as does his friend Simon the show more Zealot, who becomes a disciple of Jesus. Daniel eventually meets Jesus and it ultimately changes his life. It’s a wonderful coming-of-age story, with the additional message of love and peace over hate and war.

The title of the book comes from Psalm 18, verse 34 (also 2 Samuel 22:35): “He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze” (p. 87). Daniel uses a drawing of a bronze bow as a sign to Joel and Thacia that he is hiding in their house in Capernaum. The verse becomes a touchstone for Daniel and a metaphor for his own internal struggle.

Written at a fifth-to-sixth grade reading level, the content is most appropriate for those ages and up. Narrator Mary Woods does a good job creating individual characterizations by voice without resorting to caricatures or accents.

In her Newbery acceptance speech, Speare explained that she wrote the book while teaching Sunday school because she "longed to lift the personality of Jesus off the flat and lifeless pages of our textbook. I wanted to give my pupils, and others like them, a glimpse of the divided and turbulent society of Palestine, an occupied country with many parallels in our own day. And I wanted to stir in them some personal sharing of what must have been the response of boys and girls who actually saw and heard the Carpenter from Nazareth….I longed to have them see that the preacher who walked the hills of Galilee was not a mythical figure, but a compelling and dynamic leader, a hero to whom a boy in any age would gladly offer all his loyalty."

Reading this (and the rest of her speech), it’s not surprising to learn that the book has been challenged when used as part of the curriculum in public schools. While not anti-Semitic or demeaning toward Jews, critics said it glorifies Christianity while portraying Judaism and its rabbis in a negative light.

Recently, a group of parents in San Rafael, California, was able to convince their public school district to drop the book as required reading in seventh grade in a unit on ancient Rome (but had no problems with the book being in the library). After reading the many links on their website, I can understand their position. As much as I liked this book and would recommend it to others, and don’t think it should ever be removed from any library, I believe it should be optional supplemental reading rather than required in public schools. show less

It is a mixed pleasure sometimes when you revisit a book you loved as a child. There is always the fear that it won't be as good as you remembered, that your childhood innocence painted the book with its own colors and made it more than mere entertainment to you. Elizabeth George Speare's The Bronze Bow is one such book for me. On a whim, I decided to reread it for the first time in years.

The Bronze Bow is the story of Daniel bar Jamin, a young Galilean Jew living during the time of Christ. His father and mother died at the hands of the Romans, and his younger sister Leah has been left traumatized and empty. Daniel is a Zealot and lives in the mountains with the rebel Rosh, who he believes will raise an army to rout the Romans from show more Israel. When his grandmother dies, forcing Daniel to come down to the village and take care of Leah, he hates the cage of responsibility and longs to do something active against Roman rule. But Rosh doesn't seem to share that urgency... Is this wandering preacher, Jesus, the strong leader that Israel has been waiting for?

Speare does a good job keeping the story light enough for young readers but dark enough for more mature minds to imagine the backdrop. Daniel's father was crucified along with five other men for trying to rescue his brother-in-law from slavery. Leah's traumatization occurred because as a five-year-old child, she stole out and saw the gruesome scene of her father's crucifixion. The grandmother's death scene is shown, and some of Daniel's friends are killed during a rescue mission. Looking back, I see that I unconsciously took all these darker elements as a compliment from the author to me, the reader: even so young, I could handle them. And these sad pieces of reality are probably what gave the book its resonance, why I have remembered it with such affection all these years.

The characters are well drawn. Daniel especially is a very complete character, but the others are very good too. I found Rosh particularly intriguing. Daniel thinks the Romans are the villains, but slowly we come to see (along with him) that Rosh is a parasite too, using the Romans as an excuse for his own pillaging. The lessons about misplaced hero-worship and the growing awareness that comes with maturity are subtle but unmistakable. Thacia, Joel, and Leah are also quite vivid people to me.

Sometimes the writing seemed a bit stiff, and other times it was just perfect. It reminded me of the style of Ann Weil's Red Sails to Capri; I don't think there was as much emphasis on avoiding "telling" in favor of "showing" in the 1960s. Some sentences and adjectives were so right that I remembered them even now; the Roman soldier standing in the "broiling sun" always stayed with me. The last scene of this story is perfect to a word. It's a fantastic culmination of character development and all the themes — vengeance, justice, forgiveness, grace — that have been brewing from the beginning of the book. Powerful stuff.

The Bronze Bow richly deserves the Newbery Medal it won in 1962, and it is a book I look forward to putting in my children's hands and minds. Highly recommended. show less

The book documents the slow change of heart for a boy with every reason to hate the Roman occupiers in his Palestine home. By letting family obligations and friendships intrude into his one-track life path toward revolution, he unknowingly opens himself up to love and friendship. He further spoils his plans by spending time listening to Jesus of Nazareth teach, opening his mind beyond the small definition of the Kingdom of God and the desire for revenge. It’s a slow change, as often happens, and the ending leaves many loose ends, but the story is still told - a story full of doubt and a little bit messy, but very beautiful.

Reminded me a bit of Ben-Hur. Speare has a gift of delicately building up to the climax. It wasn't until the last twenty pages that I realized how I cared for the characters. It was a lovely journey, thoughtfully paced, that ended with a message which, although obvious, was not overly preachy.