Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, delivering remarks about the rescue of an American fighter pilot stranded in Iran, intended to quote scripture. He did not quote scripture. He quoted Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," reciting the fictional Ezekiel 25:17 monologue that Samuel L. Jackson's hitman delivers before executing people in the film. The verse does not appear in the Bible.
The error was confirmed by multiple outlets and, reportedly, a brief pained silence from aides in the room. Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has fashioned himself a warrior-Christian in his tenure as Defense Secretary, was apparently working from memory when he invoked what he believed to be holy scripture to frame a military operation.
The actual Ezekiel 25:17 is two sentences about vengeful punishment. The Tarantino version is a lengthy theatrical monologue about righteousness and tyranny. They are not similar. A cursory Google search — or any familiarity with the Old Testament — would have caught the error.
The White House did not immediately comment on the misquotation. The Pentagon has not issued a correction. Social media, however, has been extremely thorough in performing both functions simultaneously.
For the record: the American pilot was rescued successfully. The operation was executed with genuine skill and courage. The scriptural commentary that accompanied the announcement, while memorable, was technically the property of Miramax.