Hyam Maccoby was a Jewish British scholar who spent much of his career tracing the origins of Christian antisemitism to the Gospels' account of Jesus's death and the legend of Judas Iscariot. Through 2015 the opening said he "wrote extensively on the phenomenon of ancient and modern antisemitism" and identified the Gospel traditions blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus as "the roots of Christian antisemitism." Today's opening says only that he was "known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the origins of Christianity"; antisemitism appears 5 times elsewhere in the article. A reader arriving now does not learn that Maccoby's defining scholarly project was tracing the theological roots of antisemitism.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “antisemitism” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 5.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Hyam Maccoby ( 1924 - 2004 ) was a British scholar specializing in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious tradition.1He held an academic position at the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Leeds .2Maccoby is widely known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the historical origins of Christianity .3Maccoby also wrote extensively on the phenomenon of ancient and modern antisemitism . He considered the Gospel traditions blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus and especially the legend of Judas Iscariot (which he believed to be a product of the Gentile Pauline Church) as the roots of Christian antisemitism. Other topics of Maccoby's scholarship include the Talmudic tradition and the history of the Jewish religion.4
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16983490.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Hyam Maccoby (1924-2004) was a British Jewish scholar and dramatist specializing in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious tradition.His grandfather and namesake was Rabbi Hyam (or "Chaim") Maccoby (1858-1916), better known as the "Kamenitzer Maggid," a passionate religious Zionist and advocate of vegetarianism and animal welfare.Maccoby moved to Leeds , where he held an academic position at the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Leeds . Maccoby was known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the historical origins of Christianity . Maccoby also wrote extensively on the phenomenon of ancient and modern Anti-Semitism . He considered the Gospel traditions blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus and especially the legend of Judas Iscariot (which he believed to be a product of the Gentile Pauline Church) as the roots of Christian antisemitism. Other topics of Maccoby's scholarship include the Talmudic tradition and the history of the Jewish religion. http://books.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,11617,1273283,00.html Hyam Maccoby obituary
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 346191633.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Hyam Maccoby (1924–2004) was a British Jewish scholar and dramatist specialising in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious tradition. His grandfather and namesake was Rabbi Hyam (or "Chaim") Maccoby (1858–1916), better known as the "Kamenitzer Maggid," a passionate religious Zionist and advocate of vegetarianism and animal welfare. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Signals.Maccoby was librarian of Leo Baeck College in London. In retirement he moved to Leeds , where he held an academic position at the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Leeds . Maccoby was known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the historical origins of Christianity . Maccoby also wrote extensively on the phenomenon of ancient and modern Anti-Semitism . He considered the Gospel traditions blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus and especially the legend of Judas Iscariot (which he believed to be a product of the Gentile Pauline Church) as the roots of Christian antisemitism. Other topics of Maccoby's scholarship include the Talmudic tradition and the history of the Jewish religion. http://books.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,11617,1273283,00.html Hyam Maccoby obituary
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666688679.
The opening as it stood in 2020 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
British historian specialising in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious tradition (1924-2004) Hyam Maccoby ( , 1924–2004) was a British scholar and dramatist specialising in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious tradition.He was known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the origins of Christianity .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962782184.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
British scholar of religion (1924–2004) Hyam Maccoby ( , 1924–2004) was a Jewish - British scholar and dramatist specialising in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious traditions. He was known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the origins of Christianity .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178587212.
The opening as it stood in 2025
British scholar of religion (1924–2004) Hyam Maccoby ( Hebrew : חיים מכובי , 1924–2004) was a Jewish - British scholar and dramatist specialising in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious traditions. He was known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the origins of Christianity .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1258864517. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“antisemitism” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 5. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
antisemitism
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2
2
0
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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
british scholar specializing in the study of the jewish and christian religious tradition
Now
jewish - british scholar and dramatist specialising in the study of the jewish and christian religious traditio
Sections that no longer exist
This section existed on October 6, 2023. It is gone today. The current article has no similar heading in its place, and the article is shorter overall. So this is not a heading that got renamed, and it is not a topic that got folded into a bigger section. 1 section of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 65 characters shorter.
Reception
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.
