In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “famous jewish rabbi of the 2nd century”. Today it says “leading jewish scholar and sage and a tanna of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the se”.
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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 2005
Rabbi Akiva (or Rebbi Akiva ) was a famous Jewish rabbi of the 2nd century .1He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition , and one of the most central and essential contributors to the early Oral Torah , mainly the Mishnah and the Midrash Halakha .2He laid the foundations of the mishnaic dispute, by which pairs or larger groups of sages dispute points of Halakha or Bible interpretation.3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16073210.
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Akiba ben Yosef (ca.50–ca.135 CE) ( Hebrew : רבי עקיבא בן יוסף "Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef") or simply Rabbi Akiva was a Judean tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century (3rd tannaitic generation). He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition , and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha . He is referred to in the Talmud as "Rosh la-Chachomim" (Head of all the Sages).He is considered by many to be one of the earliest founders of rabbinical Judaism .
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Illustration of Rabbi Akiva in Mantua Haggadah (1568) Akiva ben Joseph ( ; c. 40 – c. 137 CE), widely known as Rabbi Akiva ( ), was a tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century (3rd tannaitic generation).Rabbi Akiva was a leading contributor to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha .He is referred to in the Talmud as Rosh la-Chachamim (Head of all the Sages).He recognized Bar Kokhba as Messiah , and was executed by the Romans in the disastrous aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt .
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A leading Jewish scholar and sage "Akiva" redirects here.Akiva ben Yosef ( ; c. 50 – 28 September 135 CE) also known as Rabbi Akiva ( ), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a tanna , of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second century.Rabbi Akiva was a leading contributor to the Mishnah and to Midrash halakha .He is also sometimes credited with redacting Abraham's version of the Sefer Yetzirah , one of the central texts of Jewish mysticism .He is referred to in the Talmud as Rosh la- Hakhamim "Chief of the Sages".He was executed by the Romans in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt .
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Jewish scholar and sage (c. 50 – c. 135 CE) "Akiva" redirects here. Akiva ben Joseph ( Mishnaic Hebrew : ; c. 50 – 28 September 135 CE ), also known as Rabbi Akiva ( ), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a tanna of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second century. Rabbi Akiva was a leading contributor to the Mishnah and to Midrash halakha . He is referred to in the Talmud as Rosh la- Hakhamim "Chief of the Sages". He was executed by the Romans in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178767958.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Jewish scholar and sage (c. 50 – c. 135 CE) "Akiva" redirects here. Akiva ben Joseph ( Mishnaic Hebrew : עֲקִיבָא בֶּן יוֹסֵף , ʿĂqīḇāʾ ben Yōsēp̄ ; c. 50 – 28 September 135 CE ), also known as Rabbi Akiva ( רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא ), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a tanna of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second. Rabbi Akiva was a leading contributor to the Mishnah and to Midrash halakha . He is referred to in Tosafot as Rosh la- Hakhamim ("Chief of the Sages"). He was executed by the Romans in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt . He has also been described as a philosopher .Beginnings in Jewish Philosophy .
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Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “famous jewish rabbi of the 2nd century”. Today it says “leading jewish scholar and sage and a tanna of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the se”. 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
famous jewish rabbi of the 2nd century
Now
leading jewish scholar and sage and a tanna of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the se
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.
