Quentin Tarantino's controversial 1994 film Pulp Fiction made one Bible verse, Ezekiel 25:17, very popular. Fans of the R-rated film, known for combining dark humor and gritty violence, can quote the passage verbatim. Most, however, have little understanding of the verses' biblical context and historical significance.
Editor's Note: as with previous Christianity.com and Crosswalk.com articles discussing pop culture, a discussion about this movie does not indicate endorsing the movie.
Why Does Ezekiel 25:17 Appear in the Movie Pulp Fiction?
Samuel L. Jackson stars as Jules Winnfield, one of three main characters in intertwined stories that occur in Los Angeles, California. The stories resemble the hard-boiled crime novels and pulp fiction magazines popular in America from the 1920s to the 1950s.
Jackson, portraying Winnfield, recites the Ezekiel 25:17 passage just before assassinating someone who has offended his employer. His powerful delivery qualifies this "Great Vengeance and Furious Anger" speech for many top ten lists for best movie speeches.
Here is what Winnfield says in the film:
"There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. '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.'"
Winnfield repeats the speech at the film's end when he confronts a thief called Ringo. An earlier near-death experience has convinced Winnfield that God has saved his life and he must change. He tells Ringo he used to think he was God's instrument of vengeance against ungodly people. He now says, "The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd."
The monologue and the movie's discussion about violence have seared this Bible passage into many moviegoers' minds. But what does it really mean? A better first question might be, what does Ezekiel 25:17 actually say?
What Does Ezekiel 25:17 Actually Say?
That's right. As impactful as it is, Tarantino didn't quote the passage above as it's written in Scripture. The speech is loaded with biblical terms and phrases such as blessed is he, charity, goodwill, shepherds, the valley of darkness, brother's keeper, and vengeance. But the movie takes considerable creative license with Ezekiel's verse.
Tarantino is aware of that fact. In an interview with Scraps from the Loft, he states,
"This quote had a funny origin. I heard it for the first time in a kung-fu film, The Bodyguard, where it appeared in the prologue. Then I located it in the Bible in a slightly different version. I'd also seen a Japanese ninja series on TV called Shadow Warriors which is the best cartoon I've seen on the screen."
Talking more about the Shadow Warriors, Tarantino explains that each episode ended in combat where the chief "Shadow Warrior" would kill their enemy, but not before making a lengthy speech about the virtues of eliminating evil. "The guy who had to listen to this speech was sure to die in the end! My friends and I were always fascinated by these endings, which we found cool and poetic. It was in this spirit that I put the quotation from Ezekiel in Jules' mouth. When I was writing the scenario, I realized that in the final scene in the coffee shop, Jules couldn't say this religious epiphany in the same way as he's said it before. After using it for ten years, for the first time he realizes what it really means. And that's the end of the film."
In reality, Ezekiel 25:17 is much shorter than the film speech. Here is the KJV translation (the same cadence as the movie monologue):
"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."
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has made some magnificent biblical speeches (for instance, Job 38-41, Isaiah 41, and Joel 3); however, Ezekiel 25:17 makes His point with brevity.
While Jackson's speech certainly sounds like the God the average person expects to hear when an Old Testament passage is recited, most of the Bible's teaching about vengeance is that it belongs to God alone. When Jesus died, He laid down His life so that none of us need to experience God's wrath. By entering a relationship with Jesus and accepting that His sacrifice paid for our sins, we are free from feeling the weight of God's wrath on our lives. Ezekiel prophesied in the Old Testament, though, centuries before Jesus' birth, death on the cross, and resurrection.
What Country Is the Ezekiel 25:17 Prophecy Declaring Judgment On?
It's always important to understand any Bible verse in context. Ezekiel was a prophet to the Jews toward the end of the Old Testament era when God sent them into the Dispersion due to centuries of repeated cycles of disobedience and idolatry.
Ezekiel 24 is an "oracle" or a "word from the Lord" declaring judgment against Israel that will be carried out when the Babylonians overtake Jerusalem. The prophet suffered along with his people as Ezekiel's wife, "the delight of his eyes," died suddenly as a sign that God's people, His great delight, would suffer sudden destruction (Ezekiel 24:1-27). While we can only see this life, God's view is eternal. He knows each of us will spend much more time in eternity than the span of a single mortal life, so sometimes discipline comes in the form of suffering on earth so that we might not miss out on eternity with Him.
Following this prophecy against God's chosen people, Israel, Ezekiel chapters 25-32 contain oracles of judgment against surrounding nations. In this way, God demonstrated that although Israel was His chosen nation, He is the God of all the earth with the authority to judge every nation and the power to administer judgment and justice.
Ezekiel 25 contains judgments against Ammon and Moab (tribes who descended from Lot and his daughters), Seir and Edom. The Edomites descended from Jacob's (Israel's) brother Esau. Finally, God pronounces judgment on the Philistines, beginning in Ezekiel 25:15 and ending in Ezekiel 25:17.
The Philistines inhabited Canaan before God gave the land to the Israelites. God warned the Israelites not to follow any of the ways of the Canaanites because they were a "wicked and idolatrous" people. Throughout the history of the Jews in the Old Testament, the Philistines appear as one of their most persistent enemies. The most famous encounter with the Philistines appears in 1 Samuel 17 when the armies of Israel are stalled due to fear of the giant Philistine warrior Goliath until David defeats him.
The Philistines were a relentless and much-feared enemy in the region. They were a polytheistic people worshipping Baal, Astarte, and Dagon, among others. From the book of Judges through 2 Chronicles, battles against this formidable nation caused loss of life and sometimes loss of heart in the Israelites.
God didn't choose the Israelites because they were such a perfect nation. Ezekiel has just pronounced judgment on Israel first, before the judgments of other nations. This illustrates what Peter wrote centuries later, "For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17 ESV).
Why Would a Loving God Declare Judgment Against Nations?
The wrath of God is an exhaustive topic. A thorough reading of Scripture, however, demonstrates that God is, as He describes Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7 ESV, "The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."
These words encapsulate God's message. He cannot bear sin or unrighteousness, and against these things, He will bring His wrath. Anyone who clings to their sin or unrighteousness will experience God's wrath. However, He has made a way of escape in Jesus. Anyone from any nation, tribe, religion, ethnicity, or language can come to Jesus and receive God's mercy. Even in Old Testament times, people like Uriah the Hittite, Ruth the Moabitess, or Rahab the Canaanite were welcomed to follow the God of Israel.
Psalm 2 describes God's authority and right to judge the nations as Creator and Lord of the earth, but it ends with verses that encourage all to "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him" (Psalm 2:12 ESV).
We don't fully understand God's wrath because we barely understand the weight of our sins. God created a perfect world full of light and beauty. Our sin is issued in darkness, death, and everything that destroys what is good. His wrath is against that agent of evil—sin. All who cling to sin rather than coming to salvation in Jesus will also suffer His wrath, but not because God loves punishment. Rather, it is because He will not allow those who love sin to hold the entire world hostage forever.
What Does Ezekiel 25:17 Teach Us Today?
The popularity of the Ezekiel 25:17 scene in Pulp Fiction demonstrates that humans are drawn to vengeance in an unhealthy way. It's truly not God who loves to see unleashed wrath but us in our sinful natures. God has gone to great lengths to provide a way for us to avoid His wrath. In fact, Peter writes, that the Lord patiently gives all time to repent (2 Peter 3:9).
Often, Christians avoid studying God's wrath because of its unpleasantness. Understandable. But it can be helpful to dive into what the Bible teaches about it and see how often (even in the Old Testament) God extends opportunities for forgiveness and restoration to people.
The Ezekiel 25:17 movie scene can become a useful launchpad for a great conversation about humanities' idea of revenge, justice, and vengeance compared to God's overarching plan for grace and mercy, with wrath reserved for those who refuse to take His offer of forgiveness and salvation in Christ.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/jodie777
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