In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mishnaic scholar of the second generation”. Today it says “a 1st-century ce jewish tanna”.
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 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mishnaic scholar of the second generation”. Today it says “a 1st-century ce jewish tanna”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2015 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 2015
Eleazar ben Azariah ( ), was a 1st-century CE Palestinian tanna ( Mishnaic sage).1 He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II , Eliezer b. Hyrcanus , and Joshua b. Hananiah , and senior of Akiva . He was a kohen and traced his pedigree for ten generations back to Ezra , and was very wealthy. These circumstances, added to his erudition, gained for him great popularity. When Gamaliel II, in consequence of his provoking demeanor, was temporarily deposed from the patriarchate, Eleazar, though still very young, was elevated to that office by the deliberate choice of his colleagues. He did not, however, occupy it for any length of time, for the Sanhedrin reinstated Gamaliel. He was retained as vice-president (" ab bet din "), nevertheless, and it was arranged that Gamaliel should lecture three (some say two) Sabbaths , and Eleazar every fourth (or third) Sabbath.2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 646228529.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah ( ) was a Mishnaic scholar of the second generation (1st century C.E.), junior contemporary of Gamaliel II , Eliezer b. Hyrcanus , and Joshua b. Hananiah , and senior of Akiba . He traced his pedigree for ten generations back to Ezra , and was very wealthy . These circumstances, added to his erudition, gained for him great popularity. When Gamaliel II, in consequence of his provoking demeanor, was temporarily deposed from the patriarchate, Eleazar, though still very young, was elevated to that office by the deliberate choice of his colleagues. He did not, however, occupy it for any length of time, for the Sanhedrin reinstated Gamaliel. He was retained as vice-president (" ab bet din "), nevertheless, and it was arranged that Gamaliel should lecture three (some say two) Sabbaths , and Eleazar every fourth (or third) Sabbath .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 363351595.
The opening as it stood in 2020 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Eleazar ben Azariah ( ) was a 1st-century CE Jewish tanna , i.e. He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II , Eliezer b. Hananiah , and Akiva .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 957576085.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
1st-century CE Jewish rabbi and Tannaim sage Medieval miniature depicting rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah. Eleazar ben Azariah ( ) was a 1st-century CE Jewish tanna , i.e. He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II , Eliezer b. Hananiah , and Akiva .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1099314630.
The opening as it stood in 2025
1st-century CE Jewish rabbi and Tannaim sage Eleazar ben Azariah ( Hebrew : אלעזר בן עזריה ) was a 1st-century CE Jewish tanna , i.e. He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II , Eliezer b. Hananiah , and Akiva .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1276198992. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mishnaic scholar of the second generation”. Today it says “a 1st-century ce jewish tanna”. 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 between 2010 and 2025.
Then
mishnaic scholar of the second generation
Now
a 1st-century ce jewish tanna
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.
