Friday, August 28, 2009

The shocking truth about Ezekiel 25:17

Yesteday I took a drive to reconnoiter the brush fires near our house and heard an interview of Quentin Tarrantino by Terry Gross of the NPR program Fresh Air. It was mainly about Quentin's new movie, but at one point she asked him about the scene in Pulp Fiction where Samuel L. Jackson's character, Jules, recites a Bible verse, specifically Ezekiel 25:17. I have long thought that this scene is one of the most brilliantly written scenes in movie history, and it also contains, apparently, one of the best kept secrets. This is what Jules says:

"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."

But Ezekiel 25:17 simply says:

"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."

And here are a few of the preceding verses:

"Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast."

All that stuff about shepherds and the path of the righteous man, which is integral to Jules's incongruous (because he is a hit man after all) philosophical analysis in the climactic scene, isn't there. I had always thought that Tarrantino composed those lines, and I was expecting him to reveal this when Terry Gross (who apparently hadn't done her homework) asked, not about this wonderful hoax, but simply how Tarantino came to choose that particular verse.

The answer shocked me: he said that he stole it from another movie! (I forget which one.) So not only had Gross apparently not bothered to look that verse up, Tarantino hadn't either!

This still ranks in my book as one of the great inside jokes in all of moviedom. But I am disappointed to learn that, apparently, it was played on Quentin Tarantino and not by him.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

that guy's career is that one of a dj, cutting up samples to make something new. except for writing pop dialogue, like kevin smith, ut unlike kevin smith, there's no original ideas. pretty much all of his movies and their ideas, clothing, actual scenes...all stolen from other pieces.

rotatef said...

The wikipedia page lists the source of Jule's speech.

rotatef said...

Jules's. Gah!

Josh said...

I found this short film ages ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZKgptV4GmQ. It stitches Pulp Fiction, side by side, with the movies Tarantino "homaged." The same guy did a similar thing for Reservoir Dogs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HgbSAL8OKY). I still enjoy both films, immensely.

Anonymous said...

I like them both as well Josh and my comment is simple: Entertaining. If I feel the need for a religious life lesson I'll go to church.

Neil Davis said...

Ezekiel 25:17 is 2 lines long and not even close to Jules' speech.

Psalm 94 is closer.

Unknown said...

Other Translations of Ezekiel 25:17

And I wil execute great vengeance vpon them with furious rebukes, and they shall knowe that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance vpon them.
- King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan

"I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they will know that I am the LORD when I lay My vengeance on them.'""
- New American Standard Version (1995)

And I will execute great vengeance upon them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
- American Standard Version (1901)

And I will take great payment from them with acts of wrath; and they will be certain that I am the Lord when I send my punishment on them.
- Basic English Bible

And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
- Darby Bible

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.
- Webster's Bible

I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall lay my vengeance on them.
- World English Bible

And done upon them great vengeance with furious reproofs, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My giving out My vengeance on them!
- Youngs Literal Bible

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.'
- Jewish Publication Society Bible

Unknown said...

Other Translations of Ezekiel 25:17

And I wil execute great vengeance vpon them with furious rebukes, and they shall knowe that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance vpon them.
- King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan

"I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they will know that I am the LORD when I lay My vengeance on them.'""
- New American Standard Version (1995)

And I will execute great vengeance upon them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
- American Standard Version (1901)

And I will take great payment from them with acts of wrath; and they will be certain that I am the Lord when I send my punishment on them.
- Basic English Bible

And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
- Darby Bible

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.
- Webster's Bible

I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall lay my vengeance on them.
- World English Bible

And done upon them great vengeance with furious reproofs, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My giving out My vengeance on them!
- Youngs Literal Bible

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.'
- Jewish Publication Society Bible

SeekYourSchool said...

As Tarantino himself admits in the very same interview where he says his dialogue is like poetry, the whole monologue is lifted almost word-for-word from the intro for a 1976 Sonny Chiba movie.

Unknown said...

Lesser artists plagiarize, great artists steal.

AdelphiaMalloc@ gmail#com said...

Fuck... Really liked that quote... Because it's true.. Righteous souls draw negative energy like a week old corpse draws flies

Unknown said...

If the Lord has something to say and wants it heard, he/she shall play his instruments. Nobody remembers where Tarantino plagiarized this soliloquy but it resonates to this day.

Unknown said...

I have friends in a band that do an AMAZING cover of The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil. They use a harmonica during the intro to the song and this quote from Jules. Thanks to them, I have had the quote memorized for over 16 years!