US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday sparked a row after saying a Christian prayer on the recent rescue of American airmen that misquoted the Ezekiel 25:17 verse from the Bible.
Hegseth said that the verse was rescued by the “Sandy One” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission as they rescued the airmen and named it CSAR 25:17- a reference to the two combinations: the Ezekiel 27-17 verse and the acronym of the unit.
However, the prayer was not original: it is loosely based on the morphed version of the Ezekiel 25:17 that Samuel L. Jackson says in the opening scene of Pulp Fiction (1994)- Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film.
Hegseth, who could be facing an impeachment row from the House Democrats soon, was speaking to the press on the ongoing operation in Iran from the Pentagon press briefing room when he pulled the Pulp Fiction verses. Given the massive popularity of the film, and the especially the iconic, violent nature of the dialogue, went viral on social media.
CSAR 25:17 vs Ezekiel 25:17 and Pulp Fiction: How Are They Different?
The three prayers – the CSAR 25:17, the Pulp Fiction one, and the Ezekiel are quite different from each. While all of them maintains the language and structure of the original Ezekiel 25:17, the references are vastly different. The CSAR prayer that Hegseth said on Thursday was based in the context of the downed aviator.
Also read: Why Pete Hegseth quoted a fake Bible verse: Pulp Fiction confusion explained
Here’s how they are different:
Ezekiel 25:17 reads: “And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.”
The Pulp Fiction (1994) dialogue reads: ““The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.””
The CSAR 25:17 reads: “The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty, shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother. And you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee, and amen.”
This story is being updated.
