Wikipedia's first sentence called it “rather convoluted”. Today it says “name of a priest mentioned in the hebrew bible”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Priest in Hebrew Bible”. It now reads “High Priest of Israel”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2015
Joiakim is rather convoluted. Biblical texts seem to conflict with one another, as is explained here.1In a similar fashion the history of Josephus (Antiq. 11:121) mentions Joiakim, or 'Joacim' but does not include many details regarding his identity or role.2Biblical Citations -1 Esdras 3:9; 5:5 (Joiakim is referred to as the son of Zerubbabel ) The Esdras genealogy of Zerubbabel's sons is considered to be highly confused. -1 Chronicles 3:19 (Does not mention Joiakim as son of Zerubbabel, and there is no reference to Joiakim's role as a priest of the David line) - Judith 4:6-7; 4:8; 4:14; 15:8 (Recognizes Joiakim as a High Priest that hold religious and military authority) -Because there is no evidence that a high priest would exercise such a wide range of powers, some scholars believe that Joiakim may be a pseudonym for a person from either the Hasmonean period, the time of Trajan or Hadrian , or as a "representative figure of the priesthood in general." - Nehemiah 12:10, 26 However, "this list is artificial and problematic, but its existence reflects the importance of priests and Levites in this period." (Identifies Joiakim as a High Priest, the son of Jeshua) - Susanna 1:1,4,6,28,29,63 (The book of Susanna states that Joiakim was the husband of Susanna, a very rich man living in Babylon and the most honored Jew of them all, however according the New Oxford Annotated Bible it appears that this Joiakim is not connected to other Joaikims in the Bible (confirmed by Josephus)) Josephus -Joiakim may have aided in he rebuilding of the temple, if he was a son of Joshua. -Joiakim is also labeled as a contemporary of Esdras -Joiakim and Esdras may even have worked alongside on another, filling the Priestly role; Joiakim is called the "High Priest" while Esdras is referred to as the "Principal Priest of the People". -Due to the prominent role of Esdras, as evidenced in Ant. 11:120-11:158, theories have been suggested that Esdras actually replaced Joiakim as High Priest. -Josephus used unknown sources to conclude the following, "And it was his [Ezra's] fate, after being honoured by the people, to die an old man to be buried with great magnificence in Jerusalem. About the same time also died the high priest Joakeimos, whom his son Eliashib succeeded in the high priesthood -The combination of 1 Esdras and the way Josephus interpreted certain biblical passages, led him to believe Joiakim and Ezra were contemporaries. -Josephus also took liberties to fill in the gaps between Ezra 6 and 7,"in which one jumps from the reign of Darius I (522-486 BCE) to that of Artaxerxes I (465-424 BCE) by relating the Ezra story to the days of the intervening monarch Xerxes .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 661614600.
The opening as it stood in 2010
The mystery surrounding the identity of Joiakim is rather convoluted. Biblical texts seem to conflict with one another, as we will detail. In a similar fashion the history of Josephus (Antiq. 11:121) mentions Joiakim, but does not include many details regarding his identity or role. Biblical Citations -1 Esdras 3:9; 5:5 (Joiakim is referred to as the son of Zerubbabel ) -1 Chronicles 3:19 (Does not mention Joiakim as son of Zerubbabel, and there is no reference to Joiakim's role as a priest of the David line) -Judith 4:6-7; 4:8; 4:14; 15:8 (Recognizes Joiakim as a High Priest that hold religious and military authority) -Because there is no evidence that a high priest would exercise such a wide range of powers, some scholars believe that Joiakim may be a pseudonym for a person from either the Hasmonean period, the time of Trajan or Hadrian , or as a "representative figure of the priesthood in general." -Nehemiah 12:10, 26 (Identifies Joiakim as a High Priest, the son of Jeshua) -Susanna 1:1,4,6,28,29,63 (The book of Susanna states that Joiakim was the husband of Susanna, a very rich man living in Babylon and the most honored Jew of them all (confirmed by Josephus)) Josephus -Joiakim may have aided in he rebuilding of the temple, if he was a son of Joshua. -Joiakim is also labeled as a contemporary of Esdras -Joiakim and Esdras may even have worked alongside on another, filling the Priestly role; Joiakim is called the "High Priest" while Esdras is referred to as the "Principal Priest of the People". -Due to the prominent role of Esdras, as evidenced in Ant. 11:120-11:158, theories have been suggested that Esdras actually replaced Joiakim as High Priest. -Josephus used unknown sources to conclude the following, "And it was his [Ezra's] fate, after being honoured by the people, to die an old man to be buried with great magnificence in Jerusalem. About the same time also died the high priest Joakeimos, whom his son Eliashib succeeded in the high priesthood -The combination of 1 Esdras and the way Josephus interpreted certain biblical passages, lead him to believe Joiakim and Ezra were contemporaries. -Josephus also took liberties to fill in the gaps between Ezra 6 and 7,"in which one jumps from the reign of Darius I (522-486 BCE) to that of Artaxerses I (465-424 BCE) by relating the Ezra story to the days of the intervening monarch Xerxes .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 328755365.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Joiakim is the name of a priest mentioned in the Hebrew Bible , in Deuterocanonical books , and in later extra-biblical sources.Reconstructing his role in history is complicated by a variety of claims made in these texts.The chronology of Joiakim's tenure as priest has been the subject of dispute, as has the question of whether Joiakim was high priest.The Hebrew Bible, which mentions Joiakim only in the Book of Nehemiah , Chapter 12, does not call him "high priest," though Josephus does use the term for him. The mystery surrounding the identity of Joiakim is rather convoluted. There are some conflicts between early sources on Joiakim.In addition, while the history of Josephus ( Antiq. 11:121 ) mentions Joiakim (or "Joacim"), it does not include many details regarding his identity or role.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 ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965409860.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Priest in Hebrew Bible Joiakim is the name of a priest mentioned in the Hebrew Bible , in Deuterocanonical books , and in later extra-biblical sources. Reconstructing his role in history is complicated by a variety of claims made in these texts. The chronology of Joiakim's tenure as priest has been the subject of dispute, as has the question of whether Joiakim was high priest. The Hebrew Bible, which mentions Joiakim only in the Book of Nehemiah , Chapter 12, does not call him "high priest," though Josephus does use the term for him. The mystery surrounding the identity of Joiakim is rather convoluted. There are some conflicts between early sources on Joiakim. In addition, while the history of Josephus ( Antiq. 11:121 ) mentions Joiakim (or "Joacim"), it does not include many details regarding his identity or role. 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 ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1173474006.
The opening as it stood in 2025
High Priest of Israel Joiakim is the name of a priest mentioned in the Hebrew Bible , in Deuterocanonical books , and in later extra-biblical sources. Reconstructing his role in history is complicated by a variety of claims made in these texts. The chronology of Joiakim's tenure as priest has been the subject of dispute, as has the question of whether Joiakim was high priest. The Hebrew Bible, which mentions Joiakim only in the Book of Nehemiah , Chapter 12, does not call him "high priest," though Josephus does use the term for him. The mystery surrounding the identity of Joiakim is rather convoluted. There are some conflicts between early sources on Joiakim. In addition, while the history of Josephus ( Antiq. 11:121 ) mentions Joiakim (or "Joacim"), it does not include many details regarding his identity or role. 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 ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296818283. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “rather convoluted”. Today it says “name of a priest mentioned in the hebrew bible”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Priest in Hebrew Bible”. It now reads “High Priest of Israel”. 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
rather convoluted
Now
name of a priest mentioned in the hebrew bible
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.
