Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name of several priesthoods in different religions including the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints”. Today it says “role in abrahamic religions”.
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 2015 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 2015
Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek — by Dieric Bouts the Elder , 1464–67 The priesthood of Melchizedek is a role in Abrahamic religions, modelled on Melchizedek , combining the dual position of king and priest. Daniel Carroll R. - 2003 - Page 67 "However, many monarchs of the ancient Near East did participate in the cult to a degree that certainly exceeded the term ... David clearly is connected to the priesthood, although it is the priesthood of Melchizedek rather than the priesthood of ..."
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 668371518.
The opening as it stood in 2010
The Melchizedek priesthood is the name of several priesthoods in different religions including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the LDS or Mormon church). The name Melchizedek has its root in two Hebrew words, melech - meaning "King" and tzedek (see tzadik ) - meaning "righteous(ness)" . Literally then, "The King of Righteousness" or "The Righteous King".
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 371135917.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek – by Dieric Bouts the Elder , 1464–67 The priesthood of Melchizedek is a role in Abrahamic religions, modelled on Melchizedek , combining the dual position of king and priest. Daniel Carroll, (2003), page 67: "However, many monarchs of the ancient Near East did participate in the cult to a degree that certainly exceeded the term. ...David clearly is connected to the priesthood, although it is the priesthood of Melchizedek rather than the priesthood of ..."
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963136396.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Priest-king role in Abrahamic religions Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek – by Dieric Bouts the Elder , 1464–67 The priesthood of Melchizedek is a role in Abrahamic religions , modelled on Melchizedek , combining the dual position of king and priest. Daniel Carroll, (2003), page 67: "However, many monarchs of the ancient Near East did participate in the cult to a degree that certainly exceeded the term. ...David clearly is connected to the priesthood, although it is the priesthood of Melchizedek rather than the priesthood of ..."
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1150013338. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name of several priesthoods in different religions including the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints”. Today it says “role in abrahamic religions”. 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
name of several priesthoods in different religions including the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints
Now
role in abrahamic religions
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.
