10 Iconic Movie Moments With Unexpected Origins

5. Ezekiel 25:17 - Pulp Fiction

The Scene

Jules Winnfield's (Samuel L. Jackson) wrath-fuelled murder speech, where he rattles off the apparent biblical passage Ezekiel 25:17, ending with the furious sign-off, "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

How It Happened

At first glance, it's fair to assume that Quentin Tarantino simply clipped this passage verbatim from the Bible, and though Ezekiel 25:17 is indeed a real verse, its content is actually quite different.

The real passage contains only an alternate version of Jules' closing gambit rather than his entire lengthy spiel: "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 so, most fans have simply gone on believing that Q.T. embellished the rest of the passage himself with his own flowery prose, but in true Tarantino style, the full quote is lifted almost entirely from one of the director's favourite movies.

The Ezekiel 25:17 "misquote" originated in the 1976 martial arts film Karate Kiba, which stars Sonny Chiba, who of course appeared in Kill Bill. Vol. 1 as Hattori Hanzo.

The quote appears as an intertitle at the start of the film, with the only difference being that "I am the Lord" is substituted for "I am Chiba the Bodyguard."

As much as fans will give credit to Tarantino for writing most of this tirade, he actually lifted it near-wholesale from a movie you've almost definitely never heard of until now.