Hezron is the name of Joel's father in the novel The Bronze Bow. Hezron is an influential, wealthy Pharisee, who moves his family to Capernaum. Rosh sends Daniel on a mission and he travels to Capernaum, where he visits Joel's home. In chapter 5, Daniel visits Joel's home and is astonished at its magnificence and grandeur. Daniel is also embarrassed about his dirty clothes and aware of the Pharisaical laws that prohibit filthy individuals from making contact with Pharisees. After Daniel hangs out with Joel in his own room, Joel invites Daniel to have dinner with his family. During the dinner, Daniel meets Hezron, who is wary of his presence. Hezron proceeds to make patronizing and condescending remarks to Daniel and criticizes the zealots for making conditions under the Romans worse for the oppressed Jewish population. Hezron hopes that Joel will follow in his footsteps and become a rabbi instead of associating with what he sees as violent, misguided zealots.

Joel's family name—bar Hezron—is what's called a patronymic. This is a name that's derived from your father. So from Joel's name we can conclude that he is the son of a man called Hezron. (Bar is an Aramaic word meaning "son of.") Aramaic is the language that Jesus and the Apostles are generally believed to have spoken.

Patronymics exist in other cultures outside of the Middle East, most notably in Scotland and Ireland. For example, in Scotland, the equivalent of bar is Mc or Mac. So if your surname was McDonald, it meant that you were the son of someone called Donald. Likewise, in Ireland the patronymic was O', as in O'Neil or O'Hara, identifying a man as the son of Neil or Hara.