In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “son of david and bathsheba”. Today it says “youngest son among four or five children born to king david and bathsheba in jerusalem if names were written in”.
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 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “son of david and bathsheba”. Today it says “youngest son among four or five children born to king david and bathsheba in jerusalem if names were written in”.
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
Nathan according to the Old Testament he was the son of David and Bathsheba .1He was an older brother of Solomon .2He was David's third son born in Jerusalem . Luke lists him as an ancestor of Joseph Jesus' father.3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17539275.
The opening as it stood in 2010 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Nathan ( Hebrew : נתן , Modern : Natan , Tiberian : Nāṯān ) was the third of four sons born to King David and Bathsheba in Jerusalem . He was an older brother of Solomon . In the New Testament , the genealogy of Jesus according to the Gospel of Luke traces Jesus' lineage back to King David through the line of Nathan, although the Gospel of Matthew traces it through Solomon.Nathan is also mentioned to be the son of David in 2 Samuel 5:14, & 1 Chronicles 3:5 & 14:4. 1 Chronicles 3:5 Luke 3:31–32 Matthew 1:6–7
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 367539531.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Nathan ( Hebrew : נתן , Modern : Natan , Tiberian : Nāṯān ) was the third of four sons born to King David and Bathsheba in Jerusalem . He was an older brother of Solomon . In the New Testament , the genealogy of Jesus according to the Gospel of Luke traces Jesus' lineage back to King David through the line of Nathan, although the Gospel of Matthew traces it through Solomon. One conventional explanation, from as early as John of Damascus , is that Nathan is the ancestor of the Virgin Mary , while Solomon is the ancestor of Mary's husband Joseph . Nathan is also mentioned to be the son of David in 2 Samuel 5:14, & 1 Chronicles 3:5 & 14:4. 1 Chronicles 3:5 Luke 3:31–32 Matthew 1:6–7
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 663448279.
The opening as it stood in 2020 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Prince of Israel Nathan ( Hebrew : נתן , Modern : Natan , Tiberian : Nāṯān ) was the third of four sons born to King David and Bathsheba in Jerusalem . He was a younger brother of Shammuah (sometimes referred to as Shammua or Shimea), Shobab, and Solomon .Although Nathan is the third son raised by David and Bathsheba, he is the fourth born to Bathsheba.The first son died before he could be named.[For an alternative view of this, see under 'Other Sons of David' below.] Nathan was the first child of Bathsheba that she was given the right to name.Her first child died as an infant before being given a name, and Shammuah and Shobab were given names by David and Nathan the prophet .Biblical writer Carl Hagensick suggests that she chose the name Nathan in honour of Nathan the prophet, her counselor. 1 Chronicles 3:5 Hagensick, Carl, “Nine Men in the Life of Bathsheba” , The Herald of Christ's Kingdom , accessed January 27, 2017. .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964973609.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Prince of Israel Nathan ( Hebrew : נתן , Modern : Natan , Tiberian : Nāṯān ) was the third of four sons born to King David and Bathsheba in Jerusalem . He was a younger brother of Shammuah (sometimes referred to as Shammua or Shimea) and Shobab, and an older brother to Solomon . Although Nathan is the third son raised by David and Bathsheba, he is the fourth born to Bathsheba. The first son died before he could be named. Nathan was the first child of Bathsheba that she was given the right to name. Her first child died as an infant before being given a name, and Shammuah and Shobab were given names by David and Nathan the prophet . Biblical writer Carl Hagensick suggests that she chose the name Nathan in honour of Nathan the prophet, her counselor. 1 Chronicles 3:5 Hagensick, Carl, “Nine Men in the Life of Bathsheba” , The Herald of Christ's Kingdom , accessed January 27, 2017.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1172875151.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Prince of Israel Nathan ( Hebrew : נתן , Modern : Natan , Tiberian : Nāṯān ) was the youngest son among four or five children born to King David and Bathsheba in Jerusalem if names were written in order in the Bible (besides Solomon).He was a younger brother of Shammuah (sometimes referred to as Shammua or Shimea) and Shobab, and Solomon who was the second oldest child of Bathsheba. The first son died before he could be named. Nathan was the first child of Bathsheba that she was given the right to name. Her first child died as an infant before being given a name, and Shammuah and Shobab were given names by David and Nathan the prophet . Biblical writer Carl Hagensick suggests that she chose the name Nathan in honour of Nathan the prophet, her counselor. 1 Chronicles 3:5 Hagensick, Carl, “Nine Men in the Life of Bathsheba” , The Herald of Christ's Kingdom , accessed January 27, 2017.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297393443. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “son of david and bathsheba”. Today it says “youngest son among four or five children born to king david and bathsheba in jerusalem if names were written in”. 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 between 2005 and 2025.
Then
son of david and bathsheba
Now
youngest son among four or five children born to king david and bathsheba in jerusalem if names were written in
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.
