In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “city in the west bank”. Today it says “palestinian town east of bethlehem”.
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.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the October 6, 2023 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 October 6, 2023
Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, West Bank Municipality type B in Bethlehem, State of Palestine Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur ( pronounced Bayt Saahoor ; Palestine grid 170/123) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem , in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine . The city is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority . The population was of approximately 14,000 in 2017, consisting of approximately 80% Christians (most of them Greek Orthodox ) and 20% Muslims .1 Christian tradition holds Beit Sahour to be the site of the Annunciation to the Shepherds . There are two enclosures in the eastern part of Beit Sahour that are claimed by different Christian denominations to be the actual 'Shepherds Field': one belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church , and the other, the Catholic site, belonging to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land . The mainly Christian Palestinian inhabitants are being pressured by encroaching Israeli settlements , with one housing development threatened with demolition . Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1164936454.
The opening as it stood in 2005
Beit Sahour is a city in the West Bank . v t e
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 17295986.
The opening as it stood in 2010 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Palestinian Authority municipality Beit Sahour ( pronounced Bayt Saahoor ) (lit.Place of the Night Watch ) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority .The population of 12,367, is 80% Christian and 20% Muslim .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 364881929.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Palestinian Authority municipality Beit Sahour ( pronounced Bayt Saahoor ) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority . The population of 12,367 is 80% Christian (most of them Greek Orthodox ) and 20% Muslim .There are two enclosures in the eastern part of Beit Sahour that are claimed by different Christian denominations to be the actual 'Shepherds Field': one belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church and the other, the Catholic site, to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 669256021.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Municipality type B in Bethlehem, State of Palestine Beit Sahour ( pronounced Bayt Saahoor ; Palestine grid 170/123)) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority .The population of approximately 14,000 is 80% Christian (most of them Greek Orthodox ) and 20% Muslim .Modern Beit Sahour is also known as Beit Sahur an-Nasara ("Beit Sahur of the Christians"), or Beit Sahour al-Wadi ("Beit Sahur of the Valley").Another former village near Jerusalem known as Beit Sahur al-Atiqah ("ancient Beit Sahur") is fully distinct from the town of Beit Sahour and is only mentioned here for technical reasons.Christian tradition holds Beit Sahour to be the site of the Annunciation to the shepherds , Judean shepherds, but the Christian Palestinian occupants are being driven out of the town, as Israeli settlements occupy land and Israeli courts rule Palestinian homes as illegal and subject to demolition. There are two enclosures in the eastern part of Beit Sahour that are claimed by different Christian denominations to be the actual 'Shepherds Field': one belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church and the other, the Catholic site, to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965059745.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, West Bank Municipality type B in Bethlehem, State of Palestine Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur ( Arabic : بيت ساحور , romanized : Bayt Sāḥūr ; Palestine grid 170/123) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem , in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank in the State of Palestine . The city is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority . The population was of 13,281 in 2017, consisting of approximately 80% Christians (most of them Greek Orthodox ) and 20% Muslims . Christian tradition holds Beit Sahour to be the site of the Annunciation to the Shepherds . There are two enclosures in the eastern part of Beit Sahour that are claimed by different Christian denominations to be the actual 'Shepherds Field': one belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church , and the other, the Catholic site, belonging to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land . The mainly Christian Palestinian inhabitants are being pressured by encroaching Israeli settlements , with one housing development threatened with demolition . Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296328785. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “city in the west bank”. Today it says “palestinian town east of bethlehem”. 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
city in the west bank
Now
palestinian town east of bethlehem
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.
