Wikipedia's first sentence called it “son of simon the just”. Today it says “son of simon i”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Onias II depicted in Hartmann Schedel 's Nuremberg Chronicles”. It now reads “High Priest of Israel”.
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 2025 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 2025
He was still a minor when his father died, so his uncle Eleazar , and whom after, the latter's uncle Manasseh , officiated as high priests before Onais himself succeeded to that dignity. According to Josephus , he was a covetous man and of limited intelligence, whose refusal to pay the twenty talents of silver which every high priest was required to pay to Ptolemy III Euergetes , the King of Egypt (reigned 246 to 222 BC) threatened to imperil both the high priest and the people. The impending disaster was averted by Onias’ nephew Joseph, son of Tobias , who, having friendly relations with the Egypt court, managed to conciliate Ptolemy (Jos., Antiq. Onias is said to have died, almost simultaneously with his nephew Joseph, during the reign of Seleucus IV Philopator (reigned 187 BC to 175 BC), hence about 181 BC. His son, Simon II assumed the high priestly office after the demise of his father. Ant. xii. 4. § 10. - Loeb translation
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1243159463.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Onias II ( Hebrew חוֹנִיּוֹ Ḥōniyyō Honio or Honiyya ben Shimon ; Greek Onias Simonides ) was the son of Simon the Just . He was still a minor when his father died, so that his uncle Eleazar, and after him the latter's uncle Manasseh, officiated as high priests before he himself succeeded to that dignity. According to Josephus, he was a covetous man and of limited intelligence, whose refusal to pay the twenty talents of silver which every high priest was required to pay to the King of Egypt threatened to imperil both the high priest and the people; but at this juncture Joseph, the clever son of Tobias and nephew of Onias, succeeded in pacifying Ptolemy III (Euergetes). Onias is said to have died, almost simultaneously with his nephew Joseph, during the reign of Seleucus IV Philopator , hence about 181 BCE. His successor in office was his son Simon II . Josephus, "Ant." xii. 4, § 1. ibid . § 10.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 358583410.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Onias II ( Hebrew : חוֹנִיּוֹ Ḥōniyyō or Honio or Honiyya ben Shimon ; Greek : Onias Simonides ) was the son of Simon the Just . He was still a minor when his father died, so that his uncle Eleazar, and after him the latter's uncle Manasseh, officiated as high priests before he himself succeeded to that dignity. According to Josephus, he was a covetous man and of limited intelligence, whose refusal to pay the twenty talents of silver which every high priest was required to pay to the King of Egypt threatened to imperil both the high priest and the people; but at this juncture Joseph, the clever son of Tobias and nephew of Onias, succeeded in pacifying Ptolemy III (Euergetes). Onias is said to have died, almost simultaneously with his nephew Joseph, during the reign of Seleucus IV Philopator , hence about 181 BCE. His successor in office was Onias III .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 652864223.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Onias II ( Hebrew : חוֹנִיּוֹ Ḥōniyyō or Honio or Honiyya ben Shimon ; Greek : Onias Simonides ) was the son of Simon I . He was still a minor when his father died, so that his uncle Eleazar , and after him the latter's uncle Manasseh , officiated as high priests before he himself succeeded to that dignity. According to Josephus, he was a covetous man and of limited intelligence, whose refusal to pay the twenty talents of silver which every high priest was required to pay to the King of Egypt threatened to imperil both the high priest and the people; but at this juncture Joseph, the clever son of Tobias and nephew of Onias, succeeded in pacifying Ptolemy III Euergetes (reigned 246 to 222 BCE). Onias is said to have died, almost simultaneously with his nephew Joseph, during the reign of Seleucus IV Philopator (reigned 187 BC to 175 BCE), hence about 181 BCE.His successor in office was Simon II .Ant. xii. 4. § 10. - Loeb translation
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 934326904.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Onias II depicted in Hartmann Schedel 's Nuremberg Chronicles Onias II ( Hebrew : חוֹנִיּוֹ Ḥōniyyō or Honio or Honiyya ben Shimon ; Greek : Onias Simonides ) was the son of Simon I .He was still a minor when his father died, so his uncle Eleazar , and whom after, the latter's uncle Manasseh , officiated as high priests before Onais himself succeeded to that dignity. According to Josephus , he was a covetous man and of limited intelligence, whose refusal to pay the twenty talents of silver which every high priest was required to pay to Ptolemy III Euergetes , the King of Egypt (reigned 246 to 222 BC) threatened to imperil both the high priest and the people. The impending disaster was averted by Onias’ nephew Joseph, son of Tobias , who, having friendly relations with the Egypt court, managed to conciliate Ptolemy (Jos., Antiq. Onias is said to have died, almost simultaneously with his nephew Joseph, during the reign of Seleucus IV Philopator (reigned 187 BC to 175 BC), hence about 181 BC. His son, Simon II assumed the high priestly office after the demise of his father. Ant. xii. 4. § 10. - Loeb translation
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176294919.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “son of simon the just”. Today it says “son of simon i”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Onias II depicted in Hartmann Schedel 's Nuremberg Chronicles”. 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
son of simon the just
Now
son of simon i
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.