Pete Hegseth Quoted A Bible Verse. Turns Out It Was A Rip-Off Of ‘Pulp Fiction.’

One person summed it up by saying that when leaders start mixing up God with something from a movie while trying to make it sound like God is on their side, it shows just how confused things have become overall.

In what many people saw as another sign of growing tension between the Trump administration and the Vatican, Pete Hegseth seemed to confuse a famous movie speech with a Bible verse during a public appearance. This happened while he was speaking at a worship service held at the Pentagon and streamed live online. While introducing a prayer, he mentioned something he called “CSAR 25:17,” suggesting it was meant to be a version of a passage from the Bible, specifically Ezekiel 25:17.

However, people watching quickly realized that what he was saying didn’t really match the Bible. Instead, his words sounded very similar to a well-known speech from the movie Pulp Fiction. In that film, Samuel L. Jackson’s character delivers a dramatic monologue before carrying out a violent act, and many of the phrases Hegseth used closely resembled that speech rather than the actual scripture.

In his prayer, Hegseth spoke about a “downed aviator” being surrounded by selfish people and evil forces, and he praised someone who helps others through darkness out of duty and camaraderie. He also talked about striking down enemies with anger and vengeance, ending with a line about people recognizing his call sign. The language and structure were clearly much closer to the movie version than to anything found in the Bible.

For comparison, the original movie speech talks about the “righteous man” facing injustice and evil, and it includes similar lines about guiding the weak and taking revenge on those who do harm. It’s dramatic, intense, and memorable—but it’s not actually a direct quote from the Bible, even though it sounds like one.

The real verse from Ezekiel 25:17 in the King James Bible is much shorter and simpler. It mainly talks about God carrying out vengeance and making people recognize His authority. It doesn’t include the long, detailed storytelling or the added phrases about protecting others or guiding people through darkness.

Hegseth later said that the prayer he used came from a combat search and rescue unit known as “Sandy 1,” suggesting it had been passed down in that context. It’s also worth noting that the speech in Pulp Fiction wasn’t completely original either—the filmmaker reportedly drew inspiration from an older Japanese movie. So, in a way, the version Hegseth used has gone through multiple layers of adaptation over time.

After the incident, a Pentagon spokesperson defended him, saying that his words were clearly inspired by the movie but still connected to the original Bible verse. The spokesperson argued that critics were making too much of the situation and misunderstanding what Hegseth meant.

Even so, the internet reacted quickly. Videos comparing Hegseth’s prayer to the movie scene spread widely, and many people responded with humor and criticism. Some joked about the idea of a “Book of Tarantino” in the Bible, while others saw it as a more serious issue about leaders blurring the line between religion and popular culture.

This moment also comes during a period of growing conflict between Donald Trump and senior Catholic figures. Around the same time, Trump publicly criticized Pope Leo XIV, calling him weak on crime and ineffective in foreign policy after the pope spoke out about war and immigration policies. That same day, Trump also shared an image that appeared to show himself in a Christ-like form, which many people found offensive. Although he claimed it was meant to represent him as a healer or doctor, the image was later deleted after backlash from people across the political spectrum.

Altogether, these घटनाएँ have added to a sense that politics, religion, and symbolism are becoming increasingly tangled, often in ways that leave people questioning the judgment and intentions of those in power.