Bruce Sutherland was silent. Then he nodded. "Only the kingdom of heaven runs on righteousness," he repeated. "The kingdoms of the earth run on oil. You have learned something, Sir Clarence. It seems that all of life itself is wrapped up in those lines. All of us . . . people . . . nations . . . live by need and not by truth."

In Chapter Seven of Book 1, British officers Bruce Sutherland and Clarence Trevor-Browne discuss the detained persons camp in Cyprus. Trevor-Browne’s comment, which is repeated by Sutherland, sets the stage for the conflict that will later grow between the Jewish people and the occupying British forces in Palestine. Sutherland is implying that the British are denying the Jewish people’s truth because of the vast oil fields of the Arab world. This need for oil causes the British to be sympathetic toward the Arab people who want the Jewish people out of Palestine. These two officers are unique in the British military in that their personal sympathies are with the Jewish people. Still, they must follow orders and detain survivors of the concentration camps while the Palestine mandate is worked out. Sutherland later redeems himself when he retires from the service and moves in Palestine. He is no longer beholden to the motivations of the British Army and becomes a trusted confidante of the Israeli freedom fighters during the War of Liberation. 

Ari Ben Canaan put the Bible down. “The gentlemen at Whitehall had better study their claims further. I say the same thing to the Foreign Minister that a great man said to another oppressor three thousand years ago—LET MY PEOPLE GO.” 

In Chapter Thirty-One of Book 1, Ari is trying to convince the British military to allow Exodus to sail to Palestine. The name of the ship references the book of Exodus in in the Old Testament, which tells the story of the Jewish people escaping their bondage in Egypt. Ari’s argument is that the Jewish people certainly have more right to be in Palestine than the British do. By quoting Moses’s defiant demand to the Egyptian pharaoh to let his people go, Ari brings up allusions of the wrath of God coming down on those who thwart the freedom of the Jewish people. Ari knows that the world is watching. His use of the famous phrase is one many people around the world will know, and Ari hopes to embarrass the British as well as shore up support internationally for the Jewish cause.  

“Why don’t they let us alone! Why don’t they let us live!”  

In Chapter Five of Book 5, Ari has been levelled by the news of Karen’s death. Ari is typically stoic and willing to do whatever is required for his country. He has grown up surrounded by violence and weapons, and the persecution of Jewish people has continued throughout his entire life. Now, he feels the weight of Israel’s freedom that has been paid for in so many lives, and he wants to know why the Israelis cannot be allowed to live in peace. From Ari’s perspective, the only thing the Israelis want is to cultivate their fields and have the freedom to live, but they are continuously thwarted by their enemies. This quote reveals a rare moment of weakness and doubt in Ari. He believes wholeheartedly in Israel and his people, but in this moment, he wonders whether his struggle for freedom will ever end.