In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “principally responsible for the revival of hebrew as a spoken language”. Today it says “jewish linguist”.
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
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda ( Hebrew אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן־יְהוּדָה ) (b. Eliezer Yitzhak Perelman , January 7 , 1858 - 1922 ), was principally responsible for the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language, whereas it had previously been a ceremonial language. He was born in Luzhki (Лужки), a small town in Wilno Guberniya of Imperial Russia (now Northern Belarus ). After being an ardent revolutionary in Imperial Russia, he joined the Jewish national movement and emigrated to Palestine in 1881 (which was later to become Israel ). Motivated by the surrounding ideals of renovation and rejection of the diaspora lifestyle, Ben-Yehuda set out to develop a new language that could replace Yiddish and other regional dialects as a means of everyday communication. While at first many considered his work as fanciful, the need for a common language was soon understood by many. A Committee of the Hebrew Language was established. Later it became the Academy of the Hebrew Language , an organization that still exists today. The results of his work and the Committee's were published in a dictionary ( The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew ). Ben-Yehuda's work fell on fertile ground, and by the beginning of the 20th century , Hebrew was well on its way to becoming the main language of the Jewish population in Israel.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16329890.
The opening as it stood in 2010 10 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda (מִלּוֹן בֵּן-יְהוּדָה, Milon ben-Yehuda; 7 January 1858–16 December 1922) was a Jewish lexicographer and newspaper editor.He was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 368777259.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda ( ; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Litvak lexicographer and newspaper editor. He was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666771937.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Hebrew lexicographer Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda ( ; ; born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman ; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Hebrew lexicographer and newspaper editor.He was the driving force behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963384250.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
The term may also refer to Ben Yehuda .Russian–Jewish linguist and Hebrew lexicographer (1858–1922) Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda ( , ; born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman ; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Hebrew linguist, grammarian, and journalist, renowned as the lexicographer of the first Hebrew dictionary, and the editor of HaZvi , one of the first Hebrew newspapers published in the Land of Israel .He was the main driving force behind the revival of the Hebrew language .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178855187.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Russian-Jewish linguist and journalist (1858–1922) "Ben-Yehuda" redirects here.Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda (born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman ; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Russian–Jewish linguist, lexicographer , and journalist who immigrated to Jerusalem in 1881, when the Ottoman Empire ruled it.He is renowned as the lexicographer of the first Hebrew dictionary and also as the editor of Jerusalem -based HaZvi , one of the first Hebrew newspapers published in the Land of Israel .Ben-Yehuda was the primary driving force behind the revival of the Hebrew language .There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
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Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “principally responsible for the revival of hebrew as a spoken language”. Today it says “jewish linguist”. 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
principally responsible for the revival of hebrew as a spoken language
Now
jewish linguist
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.
