Did Wikipedia remove the word "martyr" from the Ascension of Isaiah article?

Yes. "martyr" appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 11. We saved the article's opening paragraph at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

When did the Ascension of Isaiah article stop using the word "martyr"?

The word appeared 2 times in the opening at its peak in 2005. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-02.

How can I verify what Wikipedia's Ascension of Isaiah article used to say?

Each snapshot on this page links the Wikipedia revision it came from, so you can open their own history and compare. We also keep our own copy of the text, which stays readable if the article changes again.

What did Wikipedia remove from the Ascension of Isaiah article?

The opening as it read in 2005

Ascension of Isaiah is an apocryphal pseudepigraphal book dating from some time in the 2nd century and compiled by an unknown Christian. The text incorporates three distinct sections, each evidently once a separate work that has been edited together here. Of these, one (the first) appears to have been by a Jewish author, and the other two by Christians. The first part of the book (chapters 1-5), generally referred to as "The Martyrdom of Isaiah" recounts and expands on the events of 2 Kings chapter 21. Into the middle of this (3:13-4:22) the editor has inserted a Christian apocalypse called "The Testament of Hezekiah", describing the persecution of the Church by Nero . The second part of the book (chapters 6-11) is referred to as "The Vision of Isaiah" and describes a journey by Isaiah through the Seven Heavens . The text exists as a whole in three Ethiopic manuscripts of around the 5th-7th centuries, but fragments have also survived in Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Old Slavonic. All three component texts appear to have been in Greek, and it is possible that the "Martyrdom of Isaiah" derives from a Hebrew or Aramaic original. Comparison of the various translations suggests that two different recensions of the Greek original must have existed; one on which the Ethiopic and one of the Latin versions was based, and the other on which the Slavonic and the other Latin version was based. Fragments of both Greek versions have survived. The work's current title is derived from the title used in the Ethiopic manuscripts (' Ergata Īsāyèyās – "The Ascension of Isaiah"). In antiquity, Epiphanius also referred to it by this title (in Greek: Τὸ Αναβατικὸν ησαΐου), as did Jerome (in Latin: Ascensio Isaiæ ). Elements of the Ascension of Isaiah are paralleled in other Jewish and Christian writings. The mode of Isaiah's death (sawn in half by Manasseh ) is agreed upon by both the Babylonian Talmud and Jerusalem Talmud , and is probably alluded to by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:37). The demon Beliar appears in quite a number of apocryphal works, including the Book of Jubilees , the Book of Enoch , the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs , and the Sibylline Books . Finally, Isaiah's journey through the Seven Heavens parallels that of Enoch's in the Second Book of Enoch .¹

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17688297.

The opening as it stood in 2010 16 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The book Ascension of Isaiah is one of the Pseudepigrapha . Theories as to the date of its composition place it in a range from the late first century AD to the second half of the 2nd century AD. As for its authorship, it is believed almost universally to be a compilation of several texts completed by an unknown Christian scribe.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 365623074.

The opening as it stood in 2015

The book Ascension of Isaiah is a pseudegraphical Christian text. Theories as to the date of its composition place it in a range from the late 1st century AD to the beginning of the 3rd century AD. As for its authorship, it is believed almost universally to be a compilation of several texts completed by an unknown Christian scribe.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668983744.

The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The Ascension of Isaiah is a pseudepigraphical Jewish-Christian text. Scholarly estimates regarding the date of the Ascension of Isaiah range anywhere between the final decades of the first century to the early decades of the third century, though scholars prefer some time in the early 2nd century. The reason for this large range in dating is due to the fact that there is virtually no information that allows for a confident dating into any specific period. Many scholars believe it to be a compilation of several texts completed by an unknown Christian scribe who claimed to be the Prophet Isaiah , while an increasing number of scholars in recent years have argued that the work is a unity by a single author that may have used utilized multiple sources. Harris, Stephen L. , Understanding the Bible . Angelomorphic Christology: Antecedents and Early Evidence . "Isaiah's Vision in the Ascension of Isaiah and the Early Church." The Journal of Theological Studies 50.1 (1999): 84-85.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962262372.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Pseudepigraphical Judeo-Christian text Fragmentary Greek text of the Ascension from the Amherst papyrus 1 The Ascension of Isaiah along with the main 4 gospels is a pseudepigraphical Judeo-Christian text. Scholarly estimates regarding the date of the Ascension of Isaiah range from 70 AD to 175 AD. Many scholars believe it to be a compilation of several texts completed by an unknown Christian scribe who claimed to be the Prophet Isaiah , while an increasing number of scholars in recent years have argued that the work is a unity by a single author that may have utilized multiple sources. Many scholars have seen some similarities between Gnosticism and the Ascension of Isaiah. Harris, Stephen L. , Understanding the Bible . Angelomorphic Christology: Antecedents and Early Evidence . "Isaiah's Vision in the Ascension of Isaiah and the Early Church." The Journal of Theological Studies 50.1 (1999): 84-85.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176415893.

The opening as it stood in 2025

Pseudepigraphical Judeo-Christian text Fragmentary Greek text of the Ascension from the Amherst papyrus 1 The Ascension of Isaiah is a pseudepigraphical Judeo-Christian text. Scholarly estimates regarding the date of the Ascension of Isaiah range from 70 AD to 175 AD. Many scholars believe it to be a compilation of several texts completed by an unknown Christian scribe who claimed to be the Prophet Isaiah , while an increasing number of scholars in recent years have argued that the work is a unity by a single author that may have utilized multiple sources. Many scholars have seen some similarities between Gnosticism and the Ascension of Isaiah. Harris, Stephen L. , Understanding the Bible . Angelomorphic Christology: Antecedents and Early Evidence . "Isaiah's Vision in the Ascension of Isaiah and the Early Church." The Journal of Theological Studies 50.1 (1999): 84-85.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292014439. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.

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