Did Pete Hegseth really quote fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction? Pentagon clarifies

Hegseth has caused quite a stir after he quoted a fake bible verse which very closely resembles the one recited in Pulp Fiction.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth channeled his inner Samuel L. Jackson, literally, while he led a Pentagon Christian worship service on April 15. The Pentagon chief has caused quite a stir after he quoted a fake bible verse during the service which very closely resembles the one recited by Jackson's character in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 classic Pulp Fiction.

As Hegseth stood at the podium, he called on the attendees to join him in the prayer which, according to the Secretary of War, was used by Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) members of Sandy-1 crew who rescued a US pilot from Iran after his plane was shot down.

"So this prayer was recited by Sandy-1... they call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17," Hegseth said before reciting the following verse.

"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, shepherd 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."

It is unclear if Hegseth is aware about the similarities between the two.

The only difference in the Sandy-1 prayer and Pulp Fiction's is that it replaced "righteous man" with "downed aviator" and "my name is the Lord" to "my call sign is Sandy One."

Interestingly, the Pentagon has released a statement clarifying that Hegseth's passage was indeed inspired by the movie but it's only a "reflection" of the biblical one.

Pentagon addresses the confusion

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon press secretary, posted on X that the CSAR prayer was "obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction."

He went on to state that Hegseth made it clear about the prayer's relation to Ezekiel 25:17 (the real passage and last part of the dialogue) which 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."

"Both the CSAR prayer and the dialogue in Pulp Fiction were reflections of the verse Ezekiel 25:17, as Secretary Hegseth clearly said in his remarks at the prayer service. Anyone saying the Secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignorant of reality," Parnell posted.

Iran joins the mockery

Among many mocking the US government for giving the war a Hollywood twist is Iran which has jumped on the bandwagon.

The Iranian Embassy in Turkiye on Thursday posted a video featuring Hegseth's address and the iconic movie scene side by side.

"We should be grateful Pete Hegseth didn’t go full Samuel L. Jackson. The Pentagon now feels more like a film review desk than a military strategy hub," the Embassy post read.