Wikipedia's first sentence called it “laid”. Today it says “container which”.
Found by software in Wikipedia's own edit history. Not yet read by hand. The quoted words are Wikipedia's.
Compared with the live article on 2026-08-04.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
The ark of bulrushes in which the infant Moses was laid ( Ex. 2:3) is called in the Hebrew teiva , a word similar to the Egyptian teb , meaning "a chest." It was daubed with slime and with pitch.1The bulrushes of which it was made were the papyrus reed. v t e2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 15975157.
The opening as it stood in 2010 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
A painting by Konstantin Flavitsky of Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses, who is in a basket. The ark of bulrushes in which the infant Moses was laid ( Ex. 2:3) is called in the Hebrew teiva , a word similar to the Egyptian teb , meaning "a chest". It is also the same word use for Noah's Ark .The "bulrushes" of which the ark was made were paper reed ( Cyperus papyrus ), a tall reed-like sedge .This marshland plant is commonly found growing along the Nile , and its thick buoyant stems are sometimes used for making boats.The ark was daubed with slime and with pitch.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 365619595.
The opening as it stood in 2015 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
A painting by Konstantin Flavitsky of Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses, who is in a basket. The ark of bulrushes daubed with asphalt and pitch, in which the infant Moses was laid ( Ex. 2:3), is called in the Hebrew תֵּבָה ( tebah , modern teiva ), a word similar to the Egyptian teb , meaning "a chest".It is also the same word used for Noah's Ark .The bulrushes ( gome ) were likely to have been papyrus stalks ( Cyperus papyrus ), daubed with bitumen and pitch (which probably refers to the sticky mud of the Nile).The ark containing the three-month-old baby, Moses, was placed in reeds by the river bank (presumably the Nile ) to protect him from the Egyptian mandate to drown every male Hebrew child, and discovered there by Pharaoh's daughter.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 648871663.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
A painting by Konstantin Flavitsky of Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses, who is in a basket. The ark of bulrushes was a container which, according to the episode known as the finding of Moses in the biblical Book of Exodus , carried the infant Moses. The ark, containing the three-month-old baby Moses, was placed in reeds by the river bank (presumably the Nile ) to protect him from the Egyptian mandate to drown every male Hebrew child, and discovered there by Pharaoh's daughter.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 951952325.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Container of the infant Moses A painting by Konstantin Flavitsky of Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses, who is in a basket. The ark of bulrushes ( ) was a container which, according to the episode known as the finding of Moses in the biblical Book of Exodus , carried the infant Moses. The ark, containing the three-month-old baby Moses, was placed in reeds by the river bank (presumably the Nile ) to protect him from the Egyptian mandate to drown every male Hebrew child, and discovered there by Pharaoh's daughter.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1175771592.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Container of the infant Moses A painting by Konstantin Flavitsky of Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses, who is in a basket. The ark of bulrushes ( Hebrew : תבת גמא , romanized : têḇaṯ gōme ) was a container which, according to the episode known as the finding of Moses in the biblical Book of Exodus , carried the infant Moses. The ark, containing the three-month-old baby Moses, was placed in reeds by the river bank (presumably the Nile ) to protect him from the Egyptian mandate to drown every male Hebrew child , and discovered there by Pharaoh's daughter.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1278952985. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “laid”. Today it says “container which”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
laid
Now
container which
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.