Hate

One of the prevalent themes in Speare’s novel is the effect of hate. In the beginning and throughout most of the novel, eighteen-year-old Daniel bar Jamin is motivated solely by his consuming hatred for the Romans who have killed his father and his uncle. He also blames the Romans for his mother’s death, for his own enslavement, for his sister’s madness, and for the eventual death of his grandmother. Daniel’s hate is so strong that he makes a solemn vow to God to avenge his parents for as long as he lives.

Daniel’s hate has begun to make him as ruthless and cold as those to whom he directs his hatred. Having lost his parents, Daniel feels he can count on only his hate. It feeds his every decision. His hate has separated him from the only remaining relatives he has, his sister and his grandmother. His hate has led him to steal, even from fellow Jews.

When Daniel meets Rosh, the rebel leader, he finds a kindred spirit to share his gnawing hatred. Rosh appears to Daniel to be the leader for whom the Israelites have waited. He takes action and lives for nothing but the “cause,” and for Rosh, the ends always justify the means. But as the novel progresses, Rosh’s hatred becomes more and more obviously self-serving. The physical descriptions of Rosh magnify the corruption that pervades his soul: he has “gnarled hands” and eyes that “looked like bits of polished basalt.” To get what he wants, Rosh does not care whom he hurts.

In this novel, hate eats a person from the inside out. The effects of Rosh’s hatred are isolation and an all-consuming self-interest that blinds him to the needs and feelings of anyone but himself. For example, Rosh sends Daniel to fix his sword but gives him no money or food for his journey. He expects that Daniel will steal what he needs for the repair from his former friend, Simon. Rosh regularly has sheep stolen from Jewish residents and orders the plunder of their crops. He claims that those stolen from should be grateful to donate to the cause and that “no real Jew” would begrudge the leader and his men of sustenance. Hatred has warped Rosh’s soul and distorted any original values he may have possessed.

Jesus tells Daniel that “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword,” and this maxim proves true as Daniel witnesses firsthand the pain of those around him. Daniel’s hatred of the Romans causes him literally to lose two friends to the sword, Nathan and Samson. Furthermore, Daniel shares responsibility for Joel’s imprisonment, having encouraged and facilitated the ruse that allows the robbing of the rich under Rosh’s command. His hatred plunges his sister back into depression and despair. Far from liberating his people or avenging his family, hatred has brought nothing but additional grief and pain into Daniel’s life.

Love

Rosh’s and Daniel’s life of hate are contrasted with Jesus’s life of love. Jesus exemplifies love and its power from the very first time he appears; the light of love radiates from his being. Jesus proves his love for his followers, and for all people, by ministering not only to their spiritual needs but also to their bodily requirements.

Several characters mirror Jesus’s love. First there is Malthace. Although it is her brother who is the rabbi-in-training, Thacia is the one who seems to have a more innate or pure understanding of God’s love. She obeys Jesus’s directive to care for the sick, feed the hungry, and above all, to love one another as God does. When Daniel appears injured on her doorstep, Malthace puts aside her family’s prejudices and even her fear for her brother (who is considering leaving the safety of the priesthood for the dangerous life of rebellion) and lovingly ministers to Daniel’s body and spirit. Malthace also exemplifies love by her tender ministrations to Daniel’s sister, Leah. She respects the younger girls’ fear of the outside world and orchestrates the compromise that will allow Leah to move to her new home and keep her dignity. She does not patronize Leah but allows the girl’s true personality to shine. Her love for Leah slowly brings the traumatized young woman back from the edge of insanity and into a world infused with love.

Simon the Zealot, Daniel’s former colleague, is the other major character who is motivated by love. Simon has left everything he has known to follow Jesus. And like Jesus, Simon does not beg or demand that others join him in following God’s love. All people must be free to choose grace on their own. Like Jesus, Simon leads by example. He waits for Daniel to see the power of God’s love on his own.

Leah is another character to be motivated by love rather than hate. Her empathy for her family is enormous. She loves Daniel and all her friends and family in her own odd way, but more importantly, she is able to love outside her culture’s prejudices. Leah falls in love with Marcus, a Roman soldier, a relationship that is strictly forbidden both by her brother and by her culture. However, like both Simon and Malthace, Leah listens to her heart rather than prescribed “reason.” The power of love is perhaps most strongly realized in Leah’s character, for love alone is able to transform her from a cowering, isolated girl into a welcoming and beautiful young woman.

Samson, the mute giant who is rescued from the prison galleys by Daniel, is another example of the power of love. Samson may be the most pure character in the novel, for he has no other motivation other than his love for Daniel. He follows the boy around constantly and watches out for him incessantly. It is Samson who provides the living, and dying, example of Jesus’s maxim that “no greater love has a man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends.”

Although it is awhile in coming, Daniel, too, is moved by the power of love. He returns to the village out of love for his sister and grandmother. His love for Joel moves him to try to “lay down his life for his friends.” And finally, Daniel realizes that “love alone can bend the bow of bronze.”

Feminism

From the beginning of Speare’s novel, the power and promise of women is addressed. Malthace accompanies her twin brother up the mountain, which is in itself startling enough. Few girls in her era would risk being so adventuresome.

Malthace is also an expert debater. She regularly backs her claims with evidence. When Daniel complains that the vow to fight for freedom is not to be taken by “a pretty little girl,” Malthace readily offers examples of how God has used women in the past for his work. She cites Deborah, who inspired the Jewish people to act against their oppressors, and Queen Esther, who was instrumental in helping the Jewish people find peace in their captivity. Thacia sways both her brother and Daniel with her argument, and they allow her to take the vow.

Malthace also helps underscore her value through her willingness to take risks. She is the one who nurses Daniel back to health after he is injured, despite the risks to herself from her father, who would be angry that she has allowed someone “unclean” into their home. It is she who comes up with the plan to dress up as her brother in order to give Joel the alibi he needs. When Daniel and Thacia are surprised by Roman soldiers (who think she is a boy), she picks up her pack and carries it as well as a man could.

Thacia, however, is not the only woman who acts to further the cause of women. It is through Leah that women’s work is appreciated. Leah does her part to support the family by working on her loom. The loom is symbolic of women’s abilities to keep a family knitted together. Leah is the one who knows how to bake, sew, and garden; all are activities that nurture the family. Like Thacia, Leah transcends her comfort level by reaching out far beyond her boundaries when she falls in love with an outsider and “enemy.”

Minor female characters also work to expand the role of women and to underscore their value to society. For example, women are the ones who prepare the meals for Jesus and receive his special blessing. It is a woman who tentatively brings Daniel a dish of oil and a wick when his grandmother is dying. A woman kindly gives Daniel a needle when he goes to the marketplace to buy cloth for Leah. From beginning to end, both major and minor female characters move the narrative toward its major theme of love.

Law

It must have been unsettling to have Jesus, who was believed to be the messiah, seemingly undervalue the importance of traditional Jewish law. Although Jesus is always respectful, he teaches that the Law is secondary to love and a willingness to follow him.

Speare incorporates the Law and its accompanying rituals from the very first chapter. When the twins first meet Daniel, Leah prepares to have them wash their hands before they eat. It is not for cleanliness that the ritual is performed but observance to the Law of God, given to Moses, as God had commanded. Although Daniel is well aware of the observant rituals, he is still surprised that “even a scribe’s son would carry water all the way up the mountain just to observe the law.”

Rabbi Hezron, the twins’ father, is a Pharisee, one who strictly observes the Law. He believes that the Law will ultimately deliver Israel from Roman occupation. He says, “When the last Roman emperor has vanished from the earth, the Law will still endure. It is to the Law that our loyalty must be devoted.” He forbids Joel to fraternize with anyone, including Daniel, who would disobey the Law, for to do so would mean prolonged captivity.

However, Jesus radically breaks from the tradition of unwavering obedience to the Law. For example, when a group of women prepare a meal for him, the men who have gathered around the table are horrified when they realize that the ritual hand washing has not been performed. The women are mortified too. The “pride and pleasure” that the woman of the house experienced in serving the master “was wiped out in an instant.” But Jesus reassures them. “Do not be distressed,” he says. “It was not needful. Let us make sure our hearts rather than our hands are worthy to receive this gift.”

For Joel, who is himself training to be a rabbi, the disregard Jesus shows for the Law makes him seriously question Jesus as a leader. When he hears Jesus open wide his kingdom for all who will follow him, regardless of religion, race, or gender, Joel is even more doubtful of Jesus’s divinity. “How can he call those people children of God?” he questioned. “This man is not a true rabbi.”

Jesus’s message, however, is always the same: the Law is important, but it is not ultimately what will bring salvation. Love alone for God offers redemption.