Wikipedia's first sentence called it “jewish heretic born in jerusalem sometime before 70”. Today it says “rabbi and jewish religious authority born in jerusalem sometime before the destruction of the temple in 70 ce”.
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 2005 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 2005
Elisha Ben Abuyah (spelled variously, including Elisha ben Avuya ) was a Jewish heretic born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 .1 At one time the Rabbis were proud to recognize him as of their number; but later their opposition to him grew so intense that they even refrained from pronouncing his name, and referred to him in terms used to designate some vile object ( dabar aher , literally "another thing"). The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) writes that "It is almost impossible to derive from rabbinical sources a clear picture of his personality, and modern historians have differed greatly in their estimate of him.2According to Grätz, he was a Karpotian Gnostic ; according to Siegfried, a follower of Philo ; according to Dubsch, a Christian ; according to Smolenskin and Weiss, a victim of the inquisitor Akiva ." In his recent book, The Sinner and the Amnesiac: The Rabbinic Invention of Elisha Ben Abuya and Eleazar Ben Arach , Alon Goshen-Gottstein argues that Rabbinic stories should be read as literature rather than as history: They construct stories that are then integrated into larger ideologically motivated literary units in such a way as to impart particular ideological messages. The sources do not necessarily relate the historical facts about the heroes but they do illustrate the cultural concerns that find expression in the stories told about them ... All this leads to the realization that the significant unit for presentation is not the life of the sage; it is the stories about sages. These stories are not formulated in an attempt to tell the life of the sage. They are told because the sage, as part of the collective culture, has some bearing on the common cultural concerns. Various anecdotes are coupled into a larger story cycle. Rabbinic Judaism was based on vigorous and often contentious debates over the meaning of the Torah and other sacred texts. The challenge facing the Rabbis was to maintain the limits to which a sage could be wrong, without being considered a heretic. Elisha and Eleazar represent two extremes in attitudes towards the Torah ; actual rabbis and their debates had to occur somewhere in between these two limits.3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17221036.
The opening as it stood in 2010 10 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Elisha ben Abuyah ( ) (spelled variously, including Elisha ben Avuya ) was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE.After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim and betrayed his people, the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the "Other One" ( אחר , Acher ).Rabbi Louis Ginzberg , writing in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906), says that "it is almost impossible to derive from rabbinical sources a clear picture of his personality, and modern historians have differed greatly in their estimate of him. According to Grätz , he was a Karpotian Gnostic ; according to Siegfried , a follower of Philo ; according to Dubsch, a Christian ; according to Smolenskin and Weiss , a victim of the inquisitor Akiba ." Louis Ginzberg , " Elisha ben Abuyah ", Jewish Encyclopedia , 1901-1906.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369000663.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Elisha ben Abuyah ( ) (spelled variously, including Elisha ben Avuya ) was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim and betrayed his people, the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the "Other One" ( אחר , Acher ). Rabbi Louis Ginzberg , writing in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906), says that "it is almost impossible to derive from rabbinical sources a clear picture of his personality, and modern historians have differed greatly in their estimate of him. According to Grätz , he was a Karpotian Gnostic ; according to Siegfried , a follower of Philo ; according to Dubsch, a Christian ; according to Smolenskin and Weiss , a victim of the inquisitor Akiba ." "At one time the Rabbis were proud to recognize him as of their number; but later their opposition to him grew so intense that they even refrained from pronouncing his name, and referred to him in terms used to designate some vile object ("dabar aḥer," lit."another thing")." ( Louis Ginzberg , " Elisha ben Abuyah ", Jewish Encyclopedia , 1901-1906) Louis Ginzberg , " Elisha ben Abuyah ", Jewish Encyclopedia , 1901-1906.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667899046.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Rabbi of end of Second Temple period Elisha ben Abuyah ( ) (spelled variously, including Elisha ben Avuya ) was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim and betrayed his people, the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the "Other One" ( אחר , Acher ). In the writings of the Geonim this name appears as "Achor" ("backwards"), because Elisha was considered to have "turned backwards" by embracing heresy. "At one time the Rabbis were proud to recognize him as of their number; but later their opposition to him grew so intense that they even refrained from pronouncing his name, and referred to him in terms used to designate some vile object ("dabar aḥer," lit. "another thing")." ( Louis Ginzberg , " Elisha ben Abuyah ", Jewish Encyclopedia , 1901-1906) Saul Lieberman , Tosefta Kifshuta on Tosefta Hagiga 2:2
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965017708.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Rabbi of end of Second Temple period Elisha ben Abuyah ( ) (spelled variously, including Elisha ben Avuya ) was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim , the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the "Other One" ( אחר , Acher ). In the writings of the Geonim this name appears as "Achor" ("backwards"), because Elisha was considered to have "turned backwards" by embracing heresy. "At one time the Rabbis were proud to recognize him as of their number; but later their opposition to him grew so intense that they even refrained from pronouncing his name, and referred to him in terms used to designate some vile object ("dabar aḥer," lit. "another thing")." ( Louis Ginzberg , " Elisha ben Abuyah ", Jewish Encyclopedia , 1901-1906) Saul Lieberman , Tosefta Kifshuta on Tosefta Hagiga 2:2
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1174161715.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Rabbi of end of Second Temple period Elisha ben Abuyah ( Hebrew : אלישע בן אבויה ) (spelled variously, including Elisha ben Avuya ) was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim , the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the "Other One" ( אחר , Acher ). In the writings of the Geonim this name appears as "Achor" ("backwards"), because Elisha was considered to have "turned backwards" by embracing heresy. "At one time the Rabbis were proud to recognize him as of their number; but later their opposition to him grew so intense that they even refrained from pronouncing his name, and referred to him in terms used to designate some vile object ("dabar aḥer," lit. "another thing")." ( Louis Ginzberg , " Elisha ben Abuyah ", Jewish Encyclopedia , 1901-1906) Saul Lieberman , Tosefta Kifshuta on Tosefta Hagiga 2:2
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292756375. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “jewish heretic born in jerusalem sometime before 70”. Today it says “rabbi and jewish religious authority born in jerusalem sometime before the destruction of the temple in 70 ce”. 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
jewish heretic born in jerusalem sometime before 70
Now
rabbi and jewish religious authority born in jerusalem sometime before the destruction of the temple in 70 ce
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.
