Wikipedia's first sentence called it “king of moab who suppressed israel in the time of the judges”. Today it says “king of moab who oppressed israel”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Fictional character According to the Book of Judges”. It now reads “King of Moab”.
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 2020 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 2020
Eglon ( ‘Eglon ) was a king of Moab who oppressed Israel. He was the head of the confederacy of Moab, Ammon and Amalek in their assault on Israel. One day, Ehud came presenting a customary tribute and tricked Eglon and stabbed him with his sword, but when Ehud attempted to draw the sword back out, the obese king's excess fat prevented its retrieval. His servants, believing he was relieving himself, left him be. In the aftermath of his death, the Moabites were routed and the Israelites enjoyed eighty years of peace. Rabbis in the Talmudic tradition claimed that Ruth was Eglon's daughter. According to this tradition, Eglon was rewarded for rising out of respect when Ehud mentioned the Israelite God by having King David as a descendant. This can also be seen as an attempt to provide a royal lineage to David. The Talmud also describes Eglon as the grandson of Balak . There is, however, no basis in the actual verses for such an assertion.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 959950224.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Eglon was the king of Moab who suppressed Israel in the time of the Judges. He was the head of the confederacy of Moab, Ammon and Amalek in their assault. One day, Ehud came presenting a customary tribute and tricked Eglon and stabbed him with his sword, but when Ehud attempted to draw the sword back out, the obese king's excess fat prevented its retrieval. Traditionally, it is said that some form of feces or waste issued from Eglon's stomach wound in this incident. His servants, believing he was relieving himself, left him be. Rabbis in the Talmudic tradition claimed that Ruth was Eglon's daughter. According to this tradition, Eglon was rewarded for rising out of respect when Ehud mentioned the Israelite God by having King David as a descendant. This can also be seen as an attempt to provide a royal lineage to David. There is, however, no basis in the actual verses for such an assertion. The Talmud also describes Eglon as the grandson of Balak.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 363391774.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Depiction of the assassination of Eglon, Speculum Humanae Salvationis , 1360.Eglon ( ‘Eḡlōn ) was the king of Moab who oppressed Israel in the time of the Book of Judges . He was the head of the confederacy of Moab, Ammon and Amalek in their assault. One day, Ehud came presenting a customary tribute and tricked Eglon and stabbed him with his sword, but when Ehud attempted to draw the sword back out, the obese king's excess fat prevented its retrieval. His servants, believing he was relieving himself, left him be. Rabbis in the Talmudic tradition claimed that Ruth was Eglon's daughter. According to this tradition, Eglon was rewarded for rising out of respect when Ehud mentioned the Israelite God by having King David as a descendant. This can also be seen as an attempt to provide a royal lineage to David. The Talmud also describes Eglon as the grandson of Balak. There is, however, no basis in the actual verses for such an assertion.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664692769.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 9 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
King of Moab Not to be confused with the city of Eglon . Fictional character According to the Book of Judges , Eglon ( ' Eglon ) was a king of Moab who oppressed Israel. No archaeological evidence has been discovered to prove his existence, though some possible candidates for his palace exist.The Story of Jericho (Revised ed.).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178904951.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
King of Moab Not to be confused with the city of Eglon . Fictional character According to the Book of Judges , Eglon ( Hebrew : עֶגְלוֹן ' Eglon ) was a king of Moab who oppressed Israel. The Story of Jericho (Revised ed.).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1260959081. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “king of moab who suppressed israel in the time of the judges”. Today it says “king of moab who oppressed israel”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Fictional character According to the Book of Judges”. It now reads “King of Moab”. 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
king of moab who suppressed israel in the time of the judges
Now
king of moab who oppressed israel
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.
