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Most people haven’t noticed, the only real part from the Bible is that last section (adapted from Ezekiel 25:17), the first part is actually his own spiel.[2] Jules Winnfield’s spiel was adapted from a reference to the verse which first appeared in the THE BODYGUARD (1976), an American release of the Japanese martial-arts film, ボディガード牙 (Karate Kiba, dir. Ikki Kajiwara and Ken Nakagusuku, 1973). Here is Reb Jules Winnfield, in the name of Marsellus Wallace, circa 1994.
| Translation (Hebrew) | Source (English) |
|---|---|
הַדֶרֶךְ שֶׁל הַצָדִיק מִתְמוֹדֶדֶת בְּכֹּל שָׁלָב עִם רִשְׁעוּת שֶׁל אָנֹכִיִי וְהַעָרִיצוּת שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים. | |
אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר בְּשֵׁם צֶדֶק וְרַצוֹן טוֹב, יוֹבִיל אֶת הֶחָלָשׁ בְּגֵיְא צַלְמָוֶת כֵּיוָן הוּא הָשׁוֹמֵר שֶׁל אָחַיו, בְּאֶמֶת וּמַּצִיל שֶׁל טָפִים אֲבּוּדִים |
Blessed is he who[5] Cf. Psalms 1:1 in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness,[6] Cf. Psalms 23:4 for he is truly his brother’s keeper[7] Cf. Genesis 4:9 and the finder of lost children.[8] THE BODYGUARD (1976) has “the father of lost children,” (translated: וְאַב שֶׁל טָפִים אֲבּוּדִים). |
וְעָשִׂ֤יתִי בָם֙ נְקָמ֣וֹת גְּדֹל֔וֹת בְּתוֹכְח֖וֹת חֵמָ֑ה (יחזקאל כה:יז חלק א׳) מִי שֶׁמְּנַסֶּה לְהָרְעִיל וּלְהַרוֹס אֶת הָאַחִים שֶׁלִי וְיָֽדְעוּ֙ כִּֽי־אֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֔ה בְּתִתִּ֥י אֶת־נִקְמָתִ֖י בָּֽם׃ (יחזקאל כה:יז חלק ב׳) |
“And I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger” (Ezekiel 25:17a) those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. “And you will know that my name is the LORD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.” (Ezekiel 25:17b) |
Pulp Fiction was written by Quentin Tarantino, however, this segment was adapted from the the THE BODYGUARD (1976), a re-cut American release of the Japanese martial-arts film, ボディガード牙 (Karate Kiba, dir. Ikki Kajiwara and Ken Nakagusuku, 1973). As this segment was included in the opening sequences added by Simon Nuchtern, we suspect he (or someone working for him) probably wrote it, but we are not certain. If you know, please leave a comment (or contact us).
The Hebrew translation presented here was made by Aharon Varady. The introduction was offered by Shmueli Gonzales, first published at his blog, Hardcore Mesorah (with a Hebrew translation found in the official Hebrew language captions to the Pulp Fiction DVD.
Source(s)
Notes
| 1 | Cf. PULP FICTION (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1994) |
|---|---|
| 2 | Jules Winnfield’s spiel was adapted from a reference to the verse which first appeared in the THE BODYGUARD (1976), an American release of the Japanese martial-arts film, ボディガード牙 (Karate Kiba, dir. Ikki Kajiwara and Ken Nakagusuku, 1973). |
| 3 | Cf. Proverbs 4:18. THE BODYGUARD (1976) has “the righteous man and defender.” (translated: הַצָדִיק וּמָגֵן) |
| 4 | lit. “confronted at every step.” |
| 5 | Cf. Psalms 1:1 |
| 6 | Cf. Psalms 23:4 |
| 7 | Cf. Genesis 4:9 |
| 8 | THE BODYGUARD (1976) has “the father of lost children,” (translated: וְאַב שֶׁל טָפִים אֲבּוּדִים). |
“The path of the righteous man | הַדֶרֶךְ שֶׁל הַצָדִיק (Ha-derekh shel ha-tsadiq) — from the film The Bodyguard (1976), adapted by Jules Winnfield in the film Pulp Fiction (1994)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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It’s not Tu Bishvat anymore, so yeah.
Is it Purim yet?
I found another copy of this text here dated February 16, 2008. It’s possible this translation first appeared in the Hebrew language subtitles to the film PULP FICTION. Can anyone confirm this? Also… this appears to be less than faithful translation of Jules Winnfield’s line into Hebrew than I would hope. Can anyone improve on this, keeping Winnfield’s tone of righteous indignation? Bonus points for adding nikkud.
I have a wonderful collection of movies with Hebrew subtitles. Which gets me wondering, is there like an official subtitle team that gets input from the studio on what is appropriate? Whats funny about the botched translation is that many Israelis will point out the absurdity of trying to take faux King James sounding language and bring it back into Hebrew, without sounding redundant.
I love it.
Be-r’shut, I would just suggest subsituting the word “taf” for “yeladim”. I think “taf”/”young children” is more common in Tanakhic pronouncements, and a touch more poetic.
Then, of course, adjust the plural of “lost” to singular: “U-mekabetz taf avud.”
Next, someone please translate Jules’ whole examination of who the righteous and evil, etc., are into Aramaic! Or would it sound better in Yiddish?
Chag same’ach!
that’s a great suggestion!
I think we also need to translate “those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers” into Hebrew since that part’s not really in Ezekiel 25:17.
Tarantino got the erroneous translation from the opening of Sonny Chiba’s The Bodyguard.
Thank you, Clint. I’ve added a note attributing the quote to The Bodyguard (1976).