In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “river in southwest asia flowing through the jordan rift valley into the dead sea”. Today it says “a 251-kilometre-long”.
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
Northern part of the Great Rift Valley as seen from space (NASA) The Jordan River is a river in Southwest Asia flowing through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea . It arises from springs at the base of Mount Hermon . One spring forms the stream Nahal Senir, the second (Banaias at Caesarea Philippi ) forms the stream Naahal Hermon, the third forms the stream Nahal Dan, all three of which merge to form the Jordan. The Jordan drops rapidly in a seventy-five kilometer run to swampy Ha-Hula Lake , which is slightly below sea level in the Rift Valley. Exiting the lake, it drops much more in about 25 kilometers to the Sea of Galilee , also known as Kinnereth. The last section has less gradient , and the river begins to meander before it enters the Dead Sea , which is about 400 meters below sea level and has no outlet. Two major tributaries enter from the east during this last phase, the Yarmouk River and Jabbok River . Its section north of Sea of Galilee is within the boundaries of Israel . South of the lake, it forms the border between the kingdom of Jordan (to the east) and Israel (to the west). Further south, it forms the border between Jordan and the West Bank . In modern times the waters are 70 to 90 per cent used for human purposes and the flow is much reduced. Because of this and the high evaporation rate of the Dead Sea, the sea is shrinking. All the shallow waters of the southern end of the sea have been drained in modern times and are now salt flats. The waters of the Jordan are an extremely important resource to the dry lands of the area and are a bone of contention between Lebanon , Syria , Jordan , Israel and the Palestinians .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17812975.
The opening as it stood in 2010 14 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Jordan River ( American English ) or River Jordan ( British English ) ( Hebrew : נהר הירדן nehar hayarden , nahr al-urdun ) is a river in Southwest Asia flowing to the Dead Sea .In Judaism, the river serves as the eastern border of the "Eretz Yisra'el", the Land of Israel .In Christian tradition, Jesus was baptized here by John the Baptist .The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan takes its name from this river The Jordan River is 251 kilometres (156 miles) long.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 371017980.
The opening as it stood in 2015 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Jordan River (in traditional English River Jordan ) ( Nahar haYarden ; Nahr al-Urdun ) is a 251-kilometre (156 mi)-long river in West Asia flowing to the Dead Sea .Israel and Palestine border the river to the west, while the Golan Heights and Jordan lie to its east. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan takes its name from this river.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668436997.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Jordan River or River Jordan ( , Nahr al-Urdunn , , Nahar ha-Yarden ; ), also known as Nahr Al Sharieat ( ), is a 251-kilometre-long (156 mi) river in the Middle East that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee (Hebrew: כנרת Kinneret, Arabic: Bohayrat Tabaraya, meaning Lake of Tiberias) and on to the Dead Sea .Jordan and the Golan Heights border the river to the east, while the West Bank and Israel lie to its west.Both Jordan and the West Bank take their names from the river.The river holds major significance in Judaism and Christianity since the Bible says that the Israelites crossed it into the Promised Land and that Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptist in it.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 958398228.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
River in West Asia which flows to the Dead Sea This article is about the river in the Middle East. The Jordan River or River Jordan ( , Nahr al-ʾUrdunn ; , Nəhar hayYardēn ; Nahrāʾ Yurdnan ), also known as Nahr Al-Sharieat ( ), is a 251-kilometre-long (156 mi) river in the Middle East that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee (Hebrew: כנרת Kinneret, Arabic: Bohayrat Tabaraya, meaning Lake of Tiberias) and on to the Dead Sea . Jordan and the Golan Heights border the river to the east, while Palestine 's West Bank and Israel lie to its west. Both Jordan and the West Bank take their names from the river. The river holds major significance in Judaism and Christianity . According to the Bible , the Israelites crossed it into the Promised Land and Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptist in it.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178616367.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
River that flows to the Dead Sea This article is about the river in the Levant. The Jordan River or River Jordan ( Arabic : نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ , Nahr al-ʾUrdunn ; Hebrew : נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן , Nəhar hayYardēn ), also known as Nahr Al-Sharieat ( Arabic : نهر الشريعة ), is a 251-kilometre-long (156 mi) endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead Sea .The river passes by or through Jordan , Syria , Israel , and the Palestinian territories .Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights border the river to the east, while Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank lie to its west.Both Jordan and the West Bank derive their names in relation to the river. The river holds major significance in Judaism and Christianity . According to the Bible , the Israelites crossed it into the Promised Land and Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptist in it.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1291725669. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “river in southwest asia flowing through the jordan rift valley into the dead sea”. Today it says “a 251-kilometre-long”. 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
river in southwest asia flowing through the jordan rift valley into the dead sea
Now
a 251-kilometre-long
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.
