Wikipedia's first sentence called it “hypothesized text that the modern documentary hypothesis claims was used by the redactor of the torah to connec”. Today it says “hypothesized hebrew text which lies behind two passages in the book of genesis”.
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 2010
Book of generations is an hypothesized text that the modern documentary hypothesis claims was used by the redactor of the torah to connect up parts of the priestly source and the JE source .1The text is no longer extant, but in the hypothesis, portions of the text survive as part of the torah .2In particular, the text is believed to be fragmented across several portions of the text, since it was used as a filler for several joins. It was Frank Moore Cross who first demonstrated that the text was separate to the other sources, which are substantially larger in comparison. The standard reconstructed version of the text, formed by collecting together the various fragments, indicates that its presence is usually announced in the torah by the words "and these are the generations of [insert name of biblical figure here]". The text itself appears to be a basic genealogy of the main ancestors of the Israelites, putting emphasis on the main line that leads from Adam , to Noah , then to Abraham , Jacob , and to Moses . However, there also appear to be a few asides to detail significant lines apart from this, such as that concerning Edom .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 299647241.
The opening as it stood in 2020 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Book of generations is an hypothesized Hebrew text which lies behind two passages in the Book of Genesis .The text is no longer extant , but according to the hypothesis, portions of it survive as part of Genesis.Frank Moore Cross demonstrated that the text could be separated from the other sources, which are substantially larger in comparison.The only surviving portions of the Book of Generations consist of Genesis 5:1-32 and 11:10-26, comprising an unbroken lineage from Adam to Abraham .It may, however, have once have extended as far as Jacob.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 901180796.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
The Book of generations is a hypothesized Hebrew text which lies behind two passages in the Book of Genesis . The text is no longer extant , but according to the hypothesis, portions of it survive as part of Genesis. Frank Moore Cross demonstrated that the text could be separated from the other sources, which are substantially larger in comparison. The only surviving portions of the Book of Generations consist of Genesis 5:1-32 and 11:10-26, comprising an unbroken lineage from Adam to Abraham . It may, however, have once have extended as far as Jacob.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178806484.
The opening as it stood in 2025 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Hypothesized Hebrew text The Book of generations is a hypothesized Hebrew text which lies behind two passages in the Book of Genesis . The text is no longer extant , but according to the hypothesis, portions of it survive as part of Genesis. Frank Moore Cross demonstrated that the text could be separated from the other sources, which are substantially larger in comparison.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1234481997. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “hypothesized text that the modern documentary hypothesis claims was used by the redactor of the torah to connec”. Today it says “hypothesized hebrew text which lies behind two passages in the book of genesis”. Read the current article and compare.
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 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
hypothesized text that the modern documentary hypothesis claims was used by the redactor of the torah to connec
Now
hypothesized hebrew text which lies behind two passages in the book of genesis
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.
