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Herbert Danby: what Wikipedia removed

Herbert Danby was an Anglican priest and Oxford professor credited with changing Christian attitudes toward Judaism. Through 2005 the opening said, “His contributions to the decline of anti-semitism in intellectual circles in the twentieth century was very significant.” Today the opening credits him only with playing a role “in the change of attitudes toward Judaism”; the word survives once elsewhere in the article. A reader today learns he changed attitudes toward Judaism, and not that his specific contribution was fighting antisemitism.

The word “antisemitism” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2005. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 1. 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 direct statement that he contributed to the decline of antisemitism is gone, replaced by a vaguer claim about changing attitudes toward Judaism.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2005 (revision 16355277):

Herbert Danby ( 20 January , 1889 - 29 March , 1953 ) was an Anglican priest and writer who played a central role in the change of attitudes toward Judaism at the start of the twentieth century . He was the regus professor of Hebrew and Canon at Christ Church, Oxford , and also the Residentiary Canon of St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem.. He translated the Mishna into English. He assisted in the Yale Translation of the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides . He also translated a remarkable work by Joseph Klausner entitled Jesus of Nazareth . His contributions to the decline of anti-semitism in intellectual circles in the twentieth century was very significant. He was at work revising his translation…

2025 (revision 1285753160):

Anglican priest and Oxford University professor Herbert Danby (20 January 1889 – 29 March 1953) was an Anglican priest and writer who played a central role in the change of attitudes toward Judaism in the first half of the twentieth century. ^ Dr. Herbert Danby. The Times (London, England), Monday, 30 March 1953; pg. 8; Issue 52583 ^ Shalom Goldman ^ ‘DANBY, Rev. Dr Herbert’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 6 April 2015

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