Wikipedia's first sentence called it “bigamist”. Today it says “named peninnah”.
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 2010 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 2010
Elkanah (Hebrew:אֱלְקָנָה) (meaning: God has purchased) was, according to the Books of Samuel , the husband of Hannah , and the father of her children including her first, Samuel . Elkanah is a bigamist , his other wife, less favoured but bearing more children, was named Peninnah .1 The names of Elkanah's other children apart from Samuel are not given. Elkanah plays only a minor role in the narrative, and is mostly a supporting character to Eli, Hannah, and Samuel. Elkanah was the son of Jeroham, who was the son of Elihu, who was the son of Tohu, who was the son of Zuph . Elkanah is described as having originated from Zuph , specifically Ramathaim-Zophim , which was part of the tribal lands of Ephraim ; however, the Books of Chronicles state that he was a Levite living amongst Ephraim rather than a member of Ephraim itself. The Talmud lists him as a prophet, along with his wife and son. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph. 1 Chronicles 6:16-30 1 Samuel 1:12
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 343459664.
The opening as it stood in 2015 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Illuminated manuscript depicting Elkanah and his two wives, c.1430 Elkanah ( ’Elqānāh " El has purchased") was, according to the Books of Samuel , the husband of Hannah , and the father of her children including her first, Samuel .Elkanah practised polygamy ; his other wife, less favoured but bearing more children, was named Peninnah . The names of Elkanah's other children apart from Samuel are not given. Elkanah plays only a minor role in the narrative, and is mostly a supporting character to Eli, Hannah, and Samuel.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 659911715.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Illuminated manuscript depicting Elkanah and his two wives, c.1430 Elkanah ( ’Elqānāh " El has purchased") was, according to the Books of Samuel , the husband of Hannah , and the father of her children including her first, Samuel . Elkanah practiced polygamy ; his other wife, less favoured but bearing more children, was named Peninnah . The names of Elkanah's other children apart from Samuel are not given. Elkanah plays only a minor role in the narrative, and is mostly a supporting character to Eli, Hannah, and Samuel.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 918022412.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Husband of Hannah and father of Samuel in the Books of Samuel For other uses, see Elkanah (name) .Elkanah and his two wives ( illuminated manuscript , c. 1430) Elkanah ( ’Ĕlqānā " El has purchased") was, according to the First Book of Samuel , the husband of Hannah , and the father of her children including her first, Samuel . Elkanah practiced polygamy ; his other wife, less favoured but bearing more children, was named Peninnah . The names of Elkanah's other children apart from Samuel are not given. Elkanah plays only a minor role in the narrative, and is mostly a supporting character to Eli , Hannah, and Samuel.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1143623799.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Husband of Hannah and father of Samuel in the Books of Samuel For other uses, see Elkanah (name) . Elkanah ( Hebrew : אֱלְקָנָה ’Ĕlqānā " El has purchased") was, according to the First Book of Samuel , the husband of Hannah , and the father of her children including her first, Samuel . Elkanah practiced polygamy ; his other wife, less favoured but bearing more children, was named Peninnah . The names of Elkanah's other children apart from Samuel are not given. Elkanah plays only a minor role in the narrative, and is mostly a supporting character to Eli , Hannah, and Samuel.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1290853151. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “bigamist”. Today it says “named peninnah”. 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
bigamist
Now
named peninnah
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.
