On April 15, United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth presided over a Pentagon sermon and quoted an apparent military prayer called “CSAR 25:17,” which he claimed was inspired by Ezekiel 25:17.
Hegseth, 45, claimed “CSAR 25:17” was recited ahead of the search and rescue mission of the two U.S. Air Force crew members “shot down” during the ongoing “holy war” in Iran.
“This prayer was recited by Sandy 1, to all Sandys, all those A‑10 crews, prior to all CSAR missions, but especially this CSAR mission that happened in real time. They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17,” Pete Hegseth claimed.
The former Fox News host went on to quote the supposed CSAR 25:17.
“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 One when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen.”
It is noteworthy that Pete Hegseth’s recital was not taken from the original Ezekiel 25:17 in the King James Bible, which condemns the Cherethites and Philistines for trying to overthrow the Israelites in the 5th Century B.C.
“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.”
Hegseth’s quote instead had a striking similarity to a fictional Bible quote by Samuel L. Jackson in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 magnum opus, Pulp Fiction.
Ever since, many have been roasting Pete Hegseth across social media platforms, including California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Exploring the background of the Ezekiel 25:17 passage used in ‘Pulp Fiction’ amid the recent Pete Hegseth drama
One of the most iconic scenes in Pulp Fiction was when Samuel L. Jackson’s character Jules Winnfield delivered a fabricated Biblical passage during the apartment scene with John Travolta (Vincent) and Frank Whaley (Brett).
Jules and Vincent begin a casual conversation about Big Kahuna burgers and how the French describe a quarter-pound cheese. However, soon after he was done eating, Winnfield started interrogating Brett, turning it into a classic psychological warfare between the two.
Somewhere around this time, Samuel L. Jackson delivers the monologue that not only reached the movie’s climax (Brett’s fatal shooting) but also marked a turning point in his career.
“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 goodwill, shepherds the weak 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 poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.”
While Jackson’s character called it Ezekiel 25:17, it was not taken from the Bible. Instead, the filmmaker borrowed it from the 1973 Japanese movie Karate Kiba, where Sonny Chiba’s character delivered something similar and gave it the special Tarantino touch.
Over the years, Samuel L. Jackson has said in interviews that he often gets requests to recite the fictional Ezekiel 25:17 in airports, restaurants, and even funerals.
Meanwhile, the scene has also been parodied in The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, The Boondocks, and Mad TV. In fact, when Nick Fury faked his death in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he used Jackson’s version of Ezekiel 25:17.
So, as it turns out, Pete Hegseth isn’t the first person to use it as a reference. However, given the context, he is now facing online ridicule.
For instance, influencer Molly Ploofkins tweeted a side-by-side video of Jackson and Hegseth with the caption:
“Hegseth quotes fake Pulp Fiction Bible verse during Pentagon sermon.”
Gavin Newsom reposted it with his own response, portraying Pete Hegseth as Uma Thurman rather than Samuel L. Jackson in a digitally-altered poster of Pulp Fiction.
“Pete Fiction: ‘I just make up stuff because I’m War Secretary,’” the image read.
Several others joined in the mockery, including Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, tennis star Martina Navratilova, Donald Trump’s niece Mary L Trump, actor Michael McKean, author Don Winslow, and ex-NBC News correspondent Chuck Todd.
However, there were others who defended Pete Hegseth. For instance, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X:
“Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday shared a custom prayer, referenced as the CSAR prayer, used by the brave warfighters of Sandy-1 who led the daylight rescue mission of Dude 44 Alpha out of Iran, which was obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction.”
Parnell continued:
“However, 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.”
While navigating the latest scandal, Pete Hegseth is also dealing with the six articles of impeachment introduced against him by the House Democrats, including abuse of power, sanctioning unauthorized military actions in Iran, bypassing congressional oversight, and mishandling classified information, among others.
While Pete Hegseth is unlikely to be impeached, given the Republican dominance in the House, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson has pushed back against the same, claiming it’s a “charade” to distract Americans from the “major successes” the current administration has had inside the Department of War/ Defense, in a statement to Newsweek.
Edited by Pallavi K