Daniel bar Jamin is the novel’s 18-year-old protagonist whose mission to avenge his father’s murder drives the events of the novel. A skilled blacksmith by trade, he abandons village life to dedicate his life to free Israel from the Romans, living on the mountain as an outlaw in Rosh’s army. Though Rosh’s plundering, violent ways at first attract Daniel, he is slowly disheartened from the mountain when Rosh loots, plunders, and abandons his men instead of fighting nobly and caring for his followers and people.

Daniel is an impatient, volatile, and emotional young man who immediately regrets many of his actions and is often driven by shame to make amends for his misdeeds. Like his countrymen, he has “brilliant dark eyes that could light with fierce patriotism and blacken with swift anger” (1). He is acutely aware of his status and his lack of a family, and he regularly compares himself to others, even those closest to him. He carries himself with a scowling demeanor that keeps even the friendliest of people at a distance and lacks self-control, raging to anyone who infuriates him. He takes pleasure in the small things and often longs for a peaceful village life—a luxury he denies himself to fulfill his vow of vengeance.