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Caiaphas: what Wikipedia removed

Caiaphas was the Jewish high priest whom the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John describe as organizing the plot to kill Jesus. The 2005 opening noted that “passages involving Caiaphas are among those from scripture cited over the years by those wishing a Biblical justification for anti-Semitism.” The word is nowhere in the article today. A reader today learns the Gospel account of Caiaphas’s role but not that it has been used historically to justify antisemitism.

The word “antisemitism” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2005. Today it appears nowhere in the article at all, references included. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word20052010201520206 October 20232025
antisemitism100000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The statement that Caiaphas’s scriptural portrayal has been cited as a Biblical justification for antisemitism, dropped from the opening; the word is nowhere in the article today.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2005 (revision 16245143):

In the New Testament , Caiaphas was the Jewish high priest to whom Jesus was taken to after his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane , and who played a part in Jesus’ crucifixion . Passages involving Caiaphas are among those from scripture cited over the years by those wishing a Biblical justification for anti-Semitism . In Matthew chapter 26, Caiaphas, other high priests, and the Sanhedrin are shown looking for “false evidence” with which to frame Jesus. (26:59) Once Jesus declares he is the Son of God , Caiaphas and the other men charge him with blasphemy and order him beaten. (26:66-67) In John chapter 18, Jesus is brought before Caiaphas and questioned, with intermittent beatings. Afterwar…

2025 (revision 1297164002):

Jewish high priest (c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD) “Caifa” redirects here. For the Israeli city formerly spelled Caïfa in French, see Haifa . Joseph ben Caiaphas ( / ˈ k aɪ . ə . f ə s / ; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD) was the High Priest of Israel during the first century. In the New Testament , the Gospels of Matthew , Luke and John indicate he was an organizer of the plot to kill Jesus . He is portrayed as presiding over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus . The primary sources for Caiaphas’ life are the New Testament and the writings of Josephus. The latter records he was made high priest by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus after Simon ben Camithus had been deposed. Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-a…

Section titled “Related”

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