The Bronze Bow

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What is Daniel bar Jamin’s ethnic background?

2. What village is Daniel from?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why did Daniel run away from his village?

2. Who is Rosh?

3. How is Samson characterized in the novel? How does the group of outlaws feel about Samson?

Paired Resource

Simon the Zealot

• This article describes the historical figure Simon the Zealot.
• Who was Simon in connection to Jesus? How is Simon’s Zealot background related to the novel’s themes of Jewish Law and Humanity, The Coming of God’s Kingdom, and Love Is Stronger Than Hate?

Zealots

• This article describes who the Zealots were and what they believed.
• What did the Zealots believe in? Where did the Zealots originate? What were their attitudes toward death? How are the Zealots representative of the novel’s theme of The Coming of God’s Kingdom?

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. Who does Simon take Daniel to see at the synagogue?

2. Where does Malthace hide Daniel after he is injured?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Daniel justify leaving his grandmother and Leah behind when he returns to Rosh?

2. Why is Daniel disgusted with Jesus when he first sees him teaching in Capernaum?

3. How are Hezron’s perspectives on the Roman occupation of Israel different from Daniel’s?

Paired Resource

Jesus of Nazareth

• This article describes Jesus’ life and ministry in Israel.
• What was Jesus’ message? Why was Jesus crucified? How is Jesus’ ministry related to the novel’s themes of The Coming of God’s Kingdom, Jewish Law and Humanity, and Love Is Stronger Than Hate?

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. How was Daniel’s father killed?

2. Who sold Daniel to Amalek?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Daniel become angry when Jesus heals people in Simon’s house?

2. Why does Daniel question Rosh’s leadership?

3. How does Daniel compare Rosh to Jesus?

Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. Why do the village women toss bread to Leah and her grandmother through the window?

2. How do Daniel and the villagers transport Leah to Simon’s cottage?

3. Why do Nathan’s friends attack him?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What realization does Daniel come to when the villagers help him with his grandmother?

2. What does Simon ask Daniel to do in the village, and why?

Paired Resource

Roman Taxes

• This 8-minute video describes how taxes were collected in ancient Rome.
• Why did many feel that the collection of taxes by the Romans was unfair? Why were tax collectors often viewed unfavorably?

Chapters 13-15

Reading Check

1. Who befriends Leah while visiting Daniel’s shop?

2. What does Daniel bring Leah after seeing her tattered rags?

3. Whose daughter does Jesus heal?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Daniel learn of Rosh’s group after returning to the mountain?

2. What does Daniel think Jesus is training his hands for?

Chapters 16-18

Reading Check

1. What do Roman soldiers order Daniel and Malthace to carry?

2. What does Daniel give Malthace?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Joel’s disguise as a fish peddler beneficial to Rosh?

2. What do the villagers ask Daniel to speak to Rosh about? What case do the villagers make for the injustice of Rosh’s actions?

3. What is Rosh’s response to Roman soldiers capturing Joel?

Paired Resource

Herod Antipas

• This 2-minute video describes the biblical and historical context of Herod Antipas.
• Who is Herod Antipas? How is Jesus’ characterization of Herod related to the novel’s theme of Love Is Stronger Than Hate?

Chapters 19-21

Reading Check

1. Who helps Daniel’s group rescue Joel?

2. Who dies in the effort to save Joel?

3. What does Malthace invite Daniel to do on the Day of Atonement?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Joel ask Daniel to warn Jesus about?

2. Jesus tells Daniel that “hate is the enemy and not man.” He also tells Daniel that “hate does not die with killing but springs up a hundredfold.” What does Jesus mean by these words?

Paired Resource

The Day of Atonement

• This article describes the Day of Atonement and its importance to Jewish history.
• What is the Day of Atonement for? What is the significance of the Day of Atonement in the Jewish religion? How is the Day of Atonement related to the novel’s themes of Jewish Law and Humanity and Love Is Stronger Than Hate?

Chapters 22-24

Reading Check

1. What does Daniel make for Leah after the festival?

2. What do the people who follow Jesus plead for him to become?

3. What illness does Leah suffer from?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Daniel upset when he attends the Day of Atonement festival at Malthace’s house?

2. Why is Daniel disappointed when Simon tells him Jesus is the Messiah?

Recommended Next Reads

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• This novel is about a boy in Roman Britain who sets out to discover what happened to his father, a member of the Ninth Legion that disappeared.
• Shared topics include historical fiction, Roman-occupied territory, political upheaval, and adventure.
• Shared themes include Love Is Stronger Than Hate.
• The Eagle of the Ninth on SuperSummary

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

• This novel is about a young boy in Colonial America who befriends a Penobscot boy who teaches him to survive.
• Shared topics include historical fiction, building community, and survival.
• Shared themes include Love Is Stronger Than Hate.
• The Sign of the Beaver on SuperSummary