Wikipedia's first sentence called it “jewish talmudist who lived in babylonia”. Today it says “prominent jewish talmudic sage”.
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The opening as it read in 2010
You might be looking for Rebbe Nachman of Breslov .1Rav Nachman bar Yaakov (died 320) ( ) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia , known as an Amora of the third generation, and pupil of Samuel of Nehardea .2He was chief justice of the Jews who were subject to the exilarch (the political head of the Babylonian Jewish community), and was also head of the school of Nehardea . On the destruction of that town, he transferred his pupils to Shekanẓib . His marriage with the daughter of the wealthy exilarch enabled him to live in luxury and to entertain scholars and strangers lavishly. Thus Rav Isaac of Palestine , who visited Babylon , stayed at Rav Nachman's house and enjoyed his hospitality. When the guest, upon leaving, was asked by his host to bless him, the former answered with the beautiful parable of the tree which sheltered the weary traveler beneath its shade and fed him with its fruit, so that the grateful wanderer blessed it with the words, "May thy scions be like unto thee." "And I," added Rav Isaac, "can bless you, who are blessed with material and spiritual wealth, only with the prayer that your scions too may be like you" ( Ta'anit 5b-6a). Rav Nachman used many collections of aggadot ( Berakhot 23b). He was fond of collecting in one passage a number of Aramaic aphorisms (see Yoma 28b-29a), and used sturdy popular expressions in his speech ( Chullin 12a, 172a; Ta'anit 24a). His haggadic remarks relating to Biblical personages were likewise made in this style, as the following specimens show: "It is not seemly for women to be conceited; the two prophetesses Deborah and Huldah had hateful names, namely, 'bee' and 'weasel'" ( Megillah 14b). "Shamelessness avails even in the face of Heaven; for God allowed Balaam to make the journey to Balak after He had forbidden it" (In the original, "חוצפא אפילו כלפי שמיא מהני מעיקרא כתיב לא תלך עמהם ולבסוף כתיב קום לך אתם" (Sanhedrin 105a) [1] .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 368700684.
The opening as it stood in 2015
You might be looking for Rebbe Nachman of Breslov . Rav Nachman bar Yaakov ( ; died 320) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia , known as an Amora of the third generation, and pupil of Samuel of Nehardea . He was chief justice of the Jews who were subject to the exilarch (the political head of the Babylonian Jewish community), and was also head of the school of Nehardea . On the destruction of that town, he transferred his pupils to Shekanẓib . His marriage with the daughter of the wealthy exilarch enabled him to live in luxury and to entertain scholars and strangers lavishly. Thus Rav Isaac of Palestine , who visited Babylon , stayed at Rav Nachman's house and enjoyed his hospitality. When the guest, upon leaving, was asked by his host to bless him, the former answered with the beautiful parable of the tree which sheltered the weary traveler beneath its shade and fed him with its fruit, so that the grateful wanderer blessed it with the words, "May thy scions be like unto thee." "And I," added Rav Isaac, "can bless you, who are blessed with material and spiritual wealth, only with the prayer that your scions too may be like you" ( Ta'anit 5b-6a). Rav Nachman used many collections of aggadot ( Berakhot 23b). He was fond of collecting in one passage a number of Aramaic aphorisms (see Yoma 28b-29a), and used sturdy popular expressions in his speech ( Chullin 12a, 172a; Ta'anit 24a). His haggadic remarks relating to Biblical personages were likewise made in this style, as the following specimens show: "It is not seemly for women to be conceited; the two prophetesses Deborah and Huldah had hateful names, namely, 'bee' and 'weasel'" ( Megillah 14b). "Shamelessness avails even in the face of Heaven; for God allowed Balaam to make the journey to Balak after He had forbidden it" (In the original, "חוצפא אפילו כלפי שמיא מהני מעיקרא כתיב לא תלך עמהם ולבסוף כתיב קום לך אתם" (Sanhedrin 105a) [1] .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 603708605.
The opening as it stood in 2020 10 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Rav Nachman bar Yaakov ( ; died 320) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia , known as an Amora of the third generation. It is generally accepted that references to Rav Nachman in the Talmud refer to Rav Nachman bar Yaakov, not to Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak .Tosafot to Gittin 31b takes this position while understanding Rashi as disagreeing.Modern scholarship follows Tosafot, noting that "Rav Nachman" and "Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak" are often stated as disagreeing within a single passage.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 946152152.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Rav Nachman bar Yaakov ( ; died 320) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia , known as an Amora of the third generation. He was the husband of Yalta . It is generally accepted that references to Rav Nachman in the Talmud refer to Rav Nachman bar Yaakov, not to Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak . Tosafot to Gittin 31b takes this position while understanding Rashi as disagreeing. Modern scholarship follows Tosafot, noting that "Rav Nachman" and "Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak" are often stated as disagreeing within a single passage.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1170389042.
The opening as it stood in 2025 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Babylonian rabbi Not to be confused with Nachman of Breslov .Rav Nachman bar Yaakov ( Hebrew : רב נחמן בר יעקב ; died 320) was a prominent Jewish Talmudic sage ( Amora ) of the third generation, who lived in Babylonia .He is generally identified with the figure referred to simply as Rav Nachman in the Babylonian Talmud.He was married to Yalta , who is mentioned several times in Talmudic literature. It is generally accepted that references to Rav Nachman in the Talmud refer to Rav Nachman bar Yaakov, not to Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak . Tosafot to Gittin 31b takes this position while understanding Rashi as disagreeing. Modern scholarship follows Tosafot, noting that "Rav Nachman" and "Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak" are often stated as disagreeing within a single passage.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1289013094. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “jewish talmudist who lived in babylonia”. Today it says “prominent jewish talmudic sage”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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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
jewish talmudist who lived in babylonia
Now
prominent jewish talmudic sage
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.