Wikipedia's first sentence called it “leader of the grigori”. Today it says “sent during yom kippur”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Azazel was a leader of the grigori (also known as "watchers"), a group of fallen angels who mated with mortal women, giving rise to a race of giants known as the Nephilim . Azazel is particularly noteworthy among the grigori because it was he who taught men how to make weapons of war as well as teaching women how to make and wear cosmetics . Eventually, Azazel's teachings created such iniquity that God decided to destroy all life on Earth with a great flood , sparing only Noah , Noah's family, and seven pairs of each species of "clean" animals, and one pair of each "unclean" species, all of whom escaped destruction by living for one year on an ark that God instructed Noah to build. A modern interpretation of Azazel, from Colin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris,1825) "Azazel" is found in the Bible in Leviticus 16:8, 10, and 26, but is not listed as an entity or spirit. The word is translated " scapegoat " and simply means "the goat of removal." The scapegoat is sent to wander in the desert in conjunction with another goat which is sacrificed to God , the "azazel" is led out into the desert and set free as proof that there is no longer any unexpiated guilt in the community.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17894722.
The opening as it stood in 2010 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
A depiction of Azazel in his familiar form of a goat -like demon, from Collin de Plancy 's Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris,1825).Azazel ( Hebrew : עזאזל, Azazel , Aramaic : רמשנאל, Arabic : عزازل Azazil ) is the enigmatic name of a character in Hebrew mythology found in the Hebrew scriptures and Apocrypha .The word's first appearance is in Leviticus 16, where a goat is designated "for Azazel" and outcast in the desert as part of Yom Kippur .He is considered by many to be a supernatural being mentioned in connection with the ritual of the Day of Atonement (Lev. xvi.).After Satan , for whom he was in some degree a prototype , Azazel enjoys the distinction of being the most mysterious extrahuman character in Jewish sacred literature.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 368264885.
The opening as it stood in 2015 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Mount Azazel (Jabel Muntar) in the Judean Desert, to which the goat was sent, and from which it was pushed.Cliffs of Mount Azazel (Jabel Muntar).Azazel , also spelled Azazael ( Hebrew : עֲזָאזֵל , Azazel ; Arabic : عزازيل , Azāzīl ) appears in the Bible in association with the scapegoat rite.In some traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it is the name for a fallen angel .In Rabbinic Judaism it is not a name of an entity but rather means literally "for the complete removal", ie, designating the goat to be cast out into the wilderness as opposed to the goat sacrificed "for YHWH ".
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667396886.
The opening as it stood in 2020 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Azazel Mount Azazel (Jabel Munttar) in the Judean Desert Cliffs of Mount Azazel (Jabel Munttar) Azazel ( / ə ˈ z eɪ z əl , ˈ æ z ə ˌ z ɛ l / ; ; ) is, according to the Book of Enoch , a fallen Angel.In the Bible , the name Azazel appears in association with the scapegoat rite; the name represents a desolate place where a scapegoat bearing the sins of the Jews during Yom Kippur was sent.During the Second Temple period , he appears as a fallen angel responsible for introducing humans to forbidden knowledge.His role as a fallen angel partly remains in Christian and Islamic traditions.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 961402634.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Biblical figure identified with fallen angel For other uses, see Azazel (disambiguation) ."And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel." Lincoln Cathedral In the Hebrew Bible , the name Azazel ( / ə ˈ z eɪ z əl , ˈ æ z ə ˌ z ɛ l / ; ʿAzāʾzēl ; ) represents a desolate place where a scapegoat bearing the sins of the Jews was sent during Yom Kippur .During the late Second Temple period , Azazel came to be viewed as a fallen angel responsible for introducing humans to forbidden knowledge , as described in the Book of Enoch . His role as a fallen angel partly remains in Christian and Islamic traditions.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1175210380.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Biblical figure identified with fallen angel For other uses, see Azazel (disambiguation) . "And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel." Lincoln Cathedral The Scapegoat , by William Holman Hunt , 1854 In the Hebrew Bible , the name Azazel ( / ə ˈ z eɪ z əl , ˈ æ z ə ˌ z ɛ l / ; Hebrew : עֲזָאזֵל ʿĂzāʾzēl ) represents a desolate place where a scapegoat bearing the sins of the Jews was sent during Yom Kippur . During the late Second Temple period (after the closure of the Hebrew Bible canon ), Azazel came to be viewed as a fallen angel responsible for introducing humans to forbidden knowledge , as described in the Book of Enoch . His role as a fallen angel partly remains in Christian and Islamic traditions.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1291944827. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “leader of the grigori”. Today it says “sent during yom kippur”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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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
leader of the grigori
Now
sent during yom kippur
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.
