In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mentioned in the book of esther a book included in the hebrew bible and old testament”. Today it says “queen of persia and the first wife of persian king ahasuerus in the book of esther”.
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 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mentioned in the book of esther a book included in the hebrew bible and old testament”. Today it says “queen of persia and the first wife of persian king ahasuerus in the book of esther”.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Vashti (an Elamite name, possibly related to "thread" in Hebrew or "beautiful" in Persian) is mentioned in the Book of Esther a book included in the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament . She is often cited as the wife of king Xerxes I of Persia (known by the Persians as "Khshayarsha"). The text transliterates the king's name as Aḥashverosh, rendered into Greek as Ahasuerus . According to the commentaries of the Midrash she was deposed from royalty, because she refused to obey the King's request that she "show off her beauty" (which is interpreted to "appear naked" or, "dance") in the banquet hall of the palace of "Shushan" Susa which was formerly the capital of Elam . Her refusal to obey her husband has helped to secure her stature as a folk hero of the modern feminist movement. She is part of the story behind the Jewish holiday of Purim one of Judaism 's festivals. Her position was superseded by Esther , the reputed saviour of ancient Persia 's Jews, who was as Ahasuerus's next queen. According to the Midrash , Vashti was the great-granddaughter of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon . Herodotus , (who tells a similar story with different characters and settings) refers to Xerxes and " Amestris " who is usually ascribed to be the same personnage as Vashti.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16751018.
The opening as it stood in 2010 9 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Vashti Refuses the King's Summons by Edwin Long Queen Vashti (Hebrew: ושתי, Persian: وَ شتی ) is the wife of King Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther , a book included in the Hebrew Bible ( Old Testament ) and read on the Jewish holiday of Purim .She is banished for her refusal to appear at the king's banquet, and Esther is chosen to succeed her as queen.In the Midrash , Vashti is described as wicked and vain.However, she is often viewed as an independent-minded heroine in feminist interpretations of the Purim story.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370981912.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Vashti Refuses the King's Summons by Edwin Long Queen Vashti ( , Koine Greek : Αστιν Astin ) is the first wife of Persian King Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther , a book included in the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ) and read on the Jewish holiday of Purim . She is banished for her refusal to appear at the king's banquet, and Esther is chosen to succeed her as queen. In the Midrash , Vashti is described as wicked and vain. She is viewed as an independent-minded heroine in feminist interpretations of the Purim story.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 661273172.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Character in the Book of Esther; queen of Persia For other uses, see Vashti (disambiguation) .Vashti ( , Vashti , Koine Greek : ᾿Αστίν Astín ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian King Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther , a book included in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament and read on the Jewish holiday of Purim .She was banished for her refusal to appear at the king's banquet to show her beauty as the king wished, and Esther was chosen to succeed her as queen. In the Midrash , Vashti is described as wicked and vain. She is viewed as an independent-minded heroine in feminist interpretations of the Purim story. Attempts to identify her as one of the Persian royal consorts mentioned in other historical records remain speculative.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965045646.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Character in the Book of Esther; queen of Persia For other uses, see Vashti (disambiguation) . A drawing of Vashti from an illustrated scroll of the Book of Esther produced in the city of Ferrara in 1617 .From the collections of the National Library of Israel Vashti ( ; ; ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther , a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim .She was either executed or banished for her refusal to appear at the king's banquet to show her beauty as Ahasuerus wished, and was succeeded as queen by Esther , a Jew .That refusal might be better understood via the Jewish tradition that she was ordered to appear naked. In the Midrash , Vashti is described as wicked and vain; she is viewed as an independent-minded heroine in feminist theological interpretations of the Purim story. Attempts to identify her as one of the Persian royal consorts mentioned in extra-biblical records remain speculative.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1167411490.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Character in the Book of Esther; queen of Persia For other uses, see Vashti (disambiguation) . Vashti ( Hebrew : וַשְׁתִּי , romanized : Vaštī ; Koine Greek : Ἀστίν , romanized: Astín ; Modern Persian : وشتی , romanized : Vâšti ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther , a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim . She was either executed or banished for her refusal to appear at the king's banquet to show her beauty as Ahasuerus wished, and was succeeded as queen by Esther , a Jew . That refusal might be better understood via the Jewish tradition that she was ordered to appear naked. In the Midrash , Vashti is described as beautiful but wicked and vain; she is viewed as an independent-minded heroine in feminist theological interpretations of the Purim story. Attempts to identify her as one of the Persian royal consorts mentioned in extra-biblical records remain speculative.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292021872. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mentioned in the book of esther a book included in the hebrew bible and old testament”. Today it says “queen of persia and the first wife of persian king ahasuerus in the book of esther”. 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 between 2005 and 2020.
Then
mentioned in the book of esther a book included in the hebrew bible and old testament
Now
queen of persia and the first wife of persian king ahasuerus in the book of esther
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.
