Wikipedia's first sentence called it “jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work of uncertain date and authorship”. Today it says “a 1st-century jewish apocryphal work”.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Assumption of Moses (otherwise called the Testament of Moses ) is a Jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work of uncertain date and authorship.1It is known from a single 6th century manuscript in Latin that was discovered by Antonio Ceriani in the Ambrosian Library in Milan in the mid 19th century and published by him in 1861 .2Based on the literal translation of idioms within the text, it is generally accepted that the extant Latin version is a translation from Greek, with a the Greek itself probably a translation from Hebrew. The text is in twelve chapters and purports to be secret prophecies revealed by Moses to Joshua when close to the end of his life. In it, a brief outline of Jewish history up until the 1st century AD is sketched out. Most scholars date the work to the early 1st century CE, contemporary with the latest historical figures described in it. A significant number of others, however, date it to the previous century and suggest that the 1st century CE references are later insertions into the text. A far smaller number of scholars place it in the 2nd century CE, and their motivation for doing so may be ideological in some cases. Ceriani noticed that one line of the text (1:14) matched a quotation in Gelasius from a hither-to lost work referred to as the Assumption of Moses and based his identification of the text on that, despite the fact that the present text does not describe any assumption. A problem posed by this identification is that both Gelasius (elsewhere) and Origen refer to an incident related in the Assumption of Moses that does not appear in this text. The incident, a dispute between the angel Michael and Satan over the body of Moses, is also referred to in the Epistle of Jude (1:9), though not attributed to any specific source. Some Evangelical Christians are uncomfortable with the idea of a canonical work relying on a non-canonical one, and prefer to see a different relationship between the two texts. The Stichometry of Nicephorus and some other ancient lists refer to both a Testament of Moses and an Assumption of Moses , apparently as separate texts. It is possible that these two were one text at some point, which would explain why the current version at once contains a passage quoted by Gelasius and does not contain the other material referred to by him (or indeed an assumption). If this is the case, then this text is likely to be what Nicephorus called the Testament of Moses , and the Assumption of Moses remains lost.3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17687177.
The opening as it stood in 2010 13 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Assumption of Moses (otherwise called the Testament of Moses ) is a Jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work. It is known from a single sixth-century incomplete manuscript in Latin that was discovered by Antonio Ceriani in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan in the mid-nineteenth century and published by him in 1861 .Manuscript "C. 73 inf" published by A.Ceriani with the title of Fragmenta Assumptionis Mosis in Monumenta sacra et profana 1,1, Milano 1861 pag 55-66
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 343725159.
The opening as it stood in 2015
The Assumption of Moses (otherwise called the Testament of Moses ) is a Jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work. It is known from a single sixth-century incomplete manuscript in Latin that was discovered by Antonio Ceriani in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan in the mid-nineteenth century and published by him in 1861. Manuscript "C. 73 inf" published by A. Ceriani with the title of Fragmenta Assumptionis Mosis in Monumenta sacra et profana 1,1, Milano 1861 pag 55-66
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 643279115.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Assumption of Moses (otherwise called the Testament of Moses ) is a 1st century Jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work.It purports to contain secret prophecies Moses revealed to Joshua before passing leadership of the Israelites to him.It contains apocalyptic themes, but is characterized as a "testament", meaning it has the final speech of a dying person, Moses.Apocalyptic literature : a reader .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962261737.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jewish pseudepigraphical work possibly alluded to in Jude 1:9 Not to be confused with Revelation of Moses .The Assumption of Moses , also known as the Testament of Moses ( Hebrew עליית משה), is a 1st-century Jewish apocryphal work. It purports to contain secret prophecies Moses revealed to Joshua before passing leadership of the Israelites to him. It is characterized as a "testament", meaning the final speech of a dying person, Moses.The text is thought to have been originally written in Hebrew or another Semitic language, and then translated to Koine Greek .The only surviving manuscript is a 6th-century Latin translation of the Greek text.The manuscript was incomplete, and the rest of the text is lost.From references in ancient works, it is thought that the missing text depicted a dispute over the body of Moses, between the archangel Michael and the devil . Apocalyptic literature : a reader .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1174800972.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Jewish pseudepigraphical work possibly alluded to in Jude 1:9 Not to be confused with Revelation of Moses . The Assumption of Moses , also known as the Testament of Moses ( Hebrew עליית משה Aliyat Mosheh ), is a 1st-century Jewish apocryphal work. It contains secret prophecies Moses revealed to Joshua before passing leadership of the Israelites to him. It is characterized as a "testament", meaning the final speech of a dying person, Moses. The text is thought to have been originally written in Hebrew or another Semitic language, and then translated to Koine Greek . The only surviving manuscript is a 6th-century Latin translation of the Greek text. The manuscript was incomplete, and the rest of the text is lost. From references in ancient works, it is thought that the missing text may have depicted a dispute over the body of Moses, between the archangel Michael and Satan. Seth and Joshua and several witnesses saw lightning strike in front of the black clothed stranger that was watching over the body of Moses.As the dust of the earth settled down, a Roman-like soldier wearing silver and gold armor appears that stumbled the stranger causing him to fall over his own feet.Michael took the body of Moses and walked away but as Seth gave chase they just disappeared. Apocalyptic literature : a reader .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1293428568. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work of uncertain date and authorship”. Today it says “a 1st-century jewish apocryphal work”. Read the current article and compare.
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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
jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work of uncertain date and authorship
Now
a 1st-century jewish apocryphal work
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.
