Wikipedia's first sentence called it “fallen angel ranking in the heavenly hierarchy as a grigori”. Today it says “fallen angel of apocryphal abrahamic traditions and manichaeism as the leader of the watchers”.
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 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
Samyaza is a fallen angel ranking in the heavenly hierarchy as a Grigori (also known as "Watchers"). In the Book of Enoch he is portrayed as an angel consumed with lust for mortal women. He convinces several other angels to join him in raiding the earth to fornicate with women. His lustful dalliance begets giant offspring, the Nephilim , which then feast on human flesh. This grave transgression brings down the wrath of God, earning Samyaza eternal punishment. God then floods the earth to rid the world of his fallen progeny. Samyaza was the leader of the grigori as described in the Book of Enoch : Enoch 7:3 Then their leader Samyaza said to them; I fear that you may perhaps be indisposed to the performance of this enterprise; Enoch 7:9 These are the names of their chiefs: Samyaza, who was their leader, Urakabarameel, Akibeel, Tamiel, Ramuel, Danel, Azkeel, Saraknyal, Asael, Armers, Batraal, Anane, Zavebe, Samsaveel, Ertael, Turel, Yomyael, Azazyel (also known as Azazel ). These were the prefects of the two hundred angels, and the remainder were all with them.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16739076.
The opening as it stood in 2010 8 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Samyaza ( Aramaic : שמיחזה, Greek : Σεμιαζά) also Semihazah , Shemyazaz , Sêmîazâz , Semjâzâ , Samjâzâ , Shemyaza , Shemhazai , and Amez [ y ] arak ( Ethiopic corruption) is a fallen angel of apocryphal Jewish and Christian tradition that ranked in the heavenly hierarchy as one of the Grigori (meaning "Watchers" in Greek).The name 'Shemyaza[z]' means 'infamous rebellion', the combination of 'shem' [meaning 'name' or 'fame' {whether positive or negative}] + 'azaz' [which means 'rebellion' or 'arrogance' as a negative particle].Michael Knibb lists him as “the (or my) name has seen” or “he sees the name”.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 368905178.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Samyaza ( Aramaic : שמיחזה, Greek : Σεμιαζά), also Semihazah , Shemyazaz , Shemyaza , Sêmîazâz , Semjâzâ , Samjâzâ , Semyaza , and Shemhazai , is a fallen angel of apocryphal Jewish and Christian tradition that ranked in the heavenly hierarchy as one of the Grigori (meaning "Watchers" in Greek). The name "Shemyaza(z)" means 'infamous rebellion', the combination of 'shem' (meaning 'name' or 'fame' [whether positive or negative]) and 'azaz' (which means 'rebellion' or 'arrogance' as a negative particle). Michael Knibb lists him as "the (or my) name has seen" or "he sees the name".
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 630086839.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
( Learn how and when to remove this message ) The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair , sculpture by Daniel Chester French .Samyaza ( ; ; , Samiarush ), also Shemhazai , Azza or Ouza , is a fallen angel of apocryphal Abrahamic traditions that ranked in the heavenly hierarchy as one of the Watchers .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962606639.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Fallen angel in various traditions The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair , sculpture by Daniel Chester French , c. 1923 Samyaza ( ; ; ; , Samyarus ), also Shemhazai , Azza , Uzza , or Ouza , is a fallen angel of apocryphal Abrahamic traditions and Manichaeism who ranked in the heavenly hierarchy as the leader of the Watchers .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171815530.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Fallen angel in various traditions The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair , sculpture by Daniel Chester French , c. 1923 Samyaza ( Hebrew : שַׁמְּחֲזַי Šamməḥăzay ; Imperial Aramaic : שְׁמִיעָזָא Šəmīʿāzāʾ ; Greek : Σεμιαζά ; Arabic : ساميارس , Samyarus ), also Shamhazai , Aza or Ouza , is a fallen angel of apocryphal Abrahamic traditions and Manichaeism as the leader of the Watchers .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1288785599. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “fallen angel ranking in the heavenly hierarchy as a grigori”. Today it says “fallen angel of apocryphal abrahamic traditions and manichaeism as the leader of the watchers”. 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
fallen angel ranking in the heavenly hierarchy as a grigori
Now
fallen angel of apocryphal abrahamic traditions and manichaeism as the leader of the watchers
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.
