In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “jewish talmudist”. Today it says “jewish talmudist of the third generation of amoraim who lived in the land of israel”.
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 2010 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 2010
Zeira ( ) was a Jewish Talmudist , known as an amora , who lived in the Land of Israel , of the 3rd generation. He was born in Babylonia , where he spent his early youth. He was a pupil of Ḥisda ( Ber. 49a), of Huna (ib.), and of Judah b.1He associated also with other prominent teachers of the Babylonian school, as Naḥman b. Ber. 8c), Hamnuna ( Zeb. 105b; Ber. 24b), and Sheshet , who called him a great man ("gabra rabba"; 'Er. 66a). His love for the Holy Land led him to decide upon leaving his native country and emigrating to Palestine . This resolve, however, he kept secret from his teacher Judah, who disapproved of any emigration from Babylonia. Before leaving, he spied upon Judah while the latter was bathing, and the words which he then overheard he took with him as a valuable and instructive memento ( Shab. 41a; Ket. 110b). A favorable dream, in which he was told that his sins had been forgiven, encouraged him to undertake the journey to the Holy Land ( Ber. 57a), and before starting he spent a hundred days in fasting, in order to forget the dialectic method of instruction of the Babylonian schools, that this might not handicap him in the Land of Israel ( B. His journey took him through Akrokonia , where he met Ḥiyya b. Zarah 16b), and through Sura (ib.). When he reached the River Jordan he could not control his impatience, but passed through the water without removing his clothes. When jeered at by an unbeliever who stood by, he answered, "Why should not I be impatient when I pursue a blessing which was denied even to Moses and Aaron ?" (Yer.2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 363419071.
The opening as it stood in 2015 10 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Ze'era or Zeira ( ) was a Jewish Talmudist , known as an amora , who lived in the Land of Israel , of the third generation. He was born in Babylonia , where he spent his early youth. He was a pupil of Ḥisda ( Ber. 49a), of Huna (ib.), and of Judah b.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 597073572.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Rabbi Zeira ( ), known before his semicha as Rav Zeira ( ) and known in the Jerusalem Talmud as Rabbi Ze'era ( ), was a Jewish Talmudist , of the third generation of amoraim , who lived in the Land of Israel .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 917377157.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Rabbi and Amora For the town of ancient Macedonia, see Zeira (Macedonia) .Rabbi Zeira ( Hebrew : רבי זירא ), known before his semikhah as Rav Zeira ( Hebrew : רב זירא ) and known in the Jerusalem Talmud as Rabbi Ze'era ( Hebrew : רבי זעירא ), was a Jewish Talmudist of the third generation of Amoraim who lived in the Land of Israel .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1269882189. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “jewish talmudist”. Today it says “jewish talmudist of the third generation of amoraim who lived in the land of israel”. Read the current article and compare.
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 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
jewish talmudist
Now
jewish talmudist of the third generation of amoraim who lived in the land of israel
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.
