Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical patriarch jacob had during his flight from h”. Today it says “ladder or staircase leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical patriarch jacob had during his”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Ladder leading to heaven, dreamed by Jacob”. It now reads “Ladder in Genesis joining Earth to heaven”.
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
Jacob's Ladder refers to a ladder to heaven which Jacob saw while fleeing his brother Esau: Jacob left Beersheba , and went toward Haran . And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the LORD stood above it [or "beside him"] and said, "I am the LORD , the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac ; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you." Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place; and I did not know it." And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (Gen 28.10-17) Jacob then named the place Bethel (literally, "House of God". " El " is one short form of " Elohim "). The name "House of God" and the term "gate of heaven" are suggestive of the metaphor of the temple as the earthly abode of a deity; this is reinforced by the image in Jacob's dream of a ladder between heaven and earth which the angels of God and (according to the "beside him" reading of the text) God himself use to come down to earth.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16390293.
The opening as it stood in 2010 9 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jacob's Ladder, early 1900s European Christian illustration Jacob's Ladder is a ladder to heaven , described in the Book of Genesis , that the biblical patriarch Jacob envisions during his flight from his brother Esau .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370999959.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Picture of the Jacob's Ladder in the original Luther Bibles (of 1534 and also 1545) Jacob's Dream (1639) by José de Ribera , at the Museo del Prado , Madrid Jacob's Dream by William Blake (c. 1805, British Museum, London) Jacob's Ladder (Hebrew: Sulam Yaakov סולם יעקב) is a staircase to heaven that the biblical Patriarch Jacob dreams about during his flight from his brother Esau .It is described in the Book of Genesis ."Jacob's Dream, object 1 (Butlin 438) "Jacob's Dream" " .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 663269956.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Ladder leading to heaven, dreamed by Jacob For other uses, see Jacob's Ladder (disambiguation) .Picture of the Jacob's Ladder in the original Luther Bibles (of 1534 and also 1545) Jacob's Ladder ( Sulam Yaakov ) is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis .The significance of the dream has been debated, but most interpretations agree that it identified Jacob with the obligations and inheritance of the people chosen by God, as understood in Abrahamic religions .Jacob's Ladder as depicted in Monheim Town Hall .The gilded Hebrew text reads "And, behold, the LORD stood beside him, and said: 'And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest ' " Jacob exclaims, "How full of awe is this place!"
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 959124887.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Ladder in Genesis joining Earth to heaven For other uses, see Jacob's Ladder (disambiguation) . Picture of the Jacob's Ladder in the original Luther Bibles (of 1534 and also 1545) Jacob's Ladder ( ) is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of the dream has been debated, but most interpretations agree that it identified Jacob with the obligations and inheritance of the people chosen by God , as understood in Abrahamic religions . Jacob's Ladder as depicted in Monheim Town Hall . The gilded Hebrew text reads "And, behold, the L ORD stood beside him, and said: 'And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest ' "
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1175213816.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Ladder in Genesis joining Earth to heaven For other uses, see Jacob's Ladder (disambiguation) . Picture of the Jacob's Ladder in the original Luther Bibles (of 1534 and also 1545) Jacob's Ladder ( Biblical Hebrew : סֻלָּם יַעֲקֹב , romanized: Sūllām Yaʿăqōḇ ) is a ladder or staircase leading to Heaven that was featured in a dream the Biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of the dream has been debated, but most interpretations agree that it identified Jacob with the obligations and inheritance of the people chosen by God , as understood in Abrahamic religions . Jacob's Ladder as depicted in Monheim Town Hall . The gilded Hebrew text reads "And, behold, the L ORD stood beside him, and said: 'And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest ' "
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1289979994. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical patriarch jacob had during his flight from h”. Today it says “ladder or staircase leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical patriarch jacob had during his”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Ladder leading to heaven, dreamed by Jacob”. It now reads “Ladder in Genesis joining Earth to heaven”. 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 October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical patriarch jacob had during his flight from h
Now
ladder or staircase leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical patriarch jacob had during his
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.
