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Seraiah

Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name of several people mentioned in the old testament”. Today it says “name of several people mentioned in the hebrew bible”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Seraiah ben Neriah”.

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. ¹ tap a number or a side note to jump between them

The opening as it read in 2005

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Easton, Matthew George (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.).¹ Nelson and Sons. : Missing or empty |title= ( help ) Seraiah or Sraya ( שְׂרָיָה "Soldier/Prince of/is the LORD ", Standard Hebrew Səraya , Tiberian Hebrew Śərāyāh ) is the name of several people mentioned in the Old Testament : The father of Joab ( 1 Chronicles 4:13, 14).² The grandfather of Jehu (1 Chr. 4:35). One of David 's scribes or secretaries ( 2 Samuel 8:17).³ A Netophathite (Jer. 40:8), a chief priest of the time of Zedekiah .⁴ He was carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon , and there put to death ( 2 Kings 25:18, 23).⁵ Father of Ezra the scribe (7:1).⁶ A ruler of the temple ( Nehemiah 11:11). A priest of the days of Jehoiakim (Neh. 12:1, 12). The son of Neriah. When Zedekiah made a journey to Babylon to do homage to Nebuchadnezzar, Seraiah had charge of the royal gifts to be presented on that occasion. Jeremiah took advantage of the occasion, and sent with Seraiah a word of cheer to the exiles in Babylon, and an announcement of the doom in store for that guilty city. The roll containing this message ( Jeremiah 50:1-8) Seraiah was to read to the exiles, and then, after fixing a stone to it, was to throw it into the Euphrates, uttering, as it sank, the prayer recorded in Jer. 51:59-64. Babylon was at this time in the height of its glory, the greatest and most powerful monarchy in the world. Scarcely seventy years elapsed when the words of the prophet were all fulfilled. Jer. 51:59 is rendered in the Revised Version, "Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain," instead of "was a quiet prince," as in the Authorized Version.⁷

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 15962412.

The opening as it stood in 2015

Seraiah or Sraya ( שְׂרָיָה "Soldier/Prince of/is the LORD ", Standard Hebrew Səraya , Tiberian Hebrew Śərāyāh ) is the name of several people mentioned in the Hebrew Bible : The father of Joab ( 1 Chronicles 4:13, 14). It is unlikely that this Joab is the son of Tsruiah, King David's sister, because the Seraiah mentioned in the Book of Chronicles was the brother of Othniel, the nephew of Caleb, who lived centuries earlier. 1 Chronicles 4:13, Joshua 15:17. The grandfather of Jehu (1 Chr. 4:35). One of David 's scribes or secretaries ( 2 Samuel 8:17). Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth (Jer. 40:8), one of the officials who survived the defeat and exile of Judea, a Netophathite, and chief priest of the time of Zedekiah . He was later carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon , and there put to death ( 2 Kings 25:18, 23). Father or ancestor of Ezra the scribe ( Book of Ezra 7:1), understood by many as the same person as Seraiah (4) A ruler of the temple ( Nehemiah 11:11). A priest of the days of Jehoiakim (Neh. 12:1, 12). The son of Neriah. When Zedekiah made a journey to Babylon to do homage to Nebuchadnezzar, Seraiah had charge of the royal gifts to be presented on that occasion. Jeremiah took advantage of the occasion, and sent with Seraiah a word of cheer to the exiles in Babylon, and an announcement of the doom in store for that guilty city. The roll containing this message ( Jeremiah 50:1-8) Seraiah was to read to the exiles, and then, after fixing a stone to it, was to throw it into the Euphrates, uttering, as it sank, the prayer recorded in Jer. 51:59-64. Babylon was at this time in the height of its glory, the greatest and most powerful monarchy in the world. Scarcely seventy years elapsed when the words of the prophet were all fulfilled. Jer. 51:59 is rendered in the Revised Version, "Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain," instead of "was a quiet prince," as in the Authorized Version.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667790098.

Today

Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
	2005	2010	2015	2020	Oct '23	2025

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

name of several people mentioned in the old testament

Now

name of several people mentioned in the hebrew bible

Sections that no longer exist

Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 1 section of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 2,111 characters shorter.

Seraiah ben Neriah

1. Removed 2 sentences: “This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain…” In the article until 2005 (rev), gone by 2010 (rev).

2. Removed: “Nelson and Sons. : Missing or empty |title= ( help ) Seraiah…” In the article until 2020 (rev), gone by October 6, 2023 (rev).

3. Removed 2 sentences: “The grandfather of Jehu (1 Chr. 4:35). One of David 's scribes…” In the article until 2015 (rev), gone by 2020 (rev).

4. Removed: “A Netophathite (Jer. 40:8), a chief priest of the time of Zedekiah…” In the article until 2010 (rev), gone by 2015 (rev).

5. Removed: “He was carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon , and there put…” In the article until 2015 (rev), gone by 2020 (rev).

6. Removed: “Father of Ezra the scribe (7:1).” In the article until 2005 (rev), gone by 2010 (rev).

7. Removed 9 sentences: “A ruler of the temple ( Nehemiah 11:11). A priest of the…” In the article until 2015 (rev), gone by 2020 (rev).

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.

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