*** Welcome to piglix ***

Ketiv


Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, קְרֵי‎ ("[what is] read") and ketiv, or ketib, kethib, kethibh, kethiv, כְּתִיב‎ ("[what is] written"), also known as "keri uchesiv" or "keri uchetiv," refer to a small number of differences between what is written in the consonantal text of the Hebrew Bible, as preserved by scribal tradition, and what is read. In such situations, the Qere is the technical orthographic device used to indicate the pronunciation of the words in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew language scriptures (Tanakh), while the Ketiv indicates their written form, as inherited from tradition.

The word קרי is often pointed קְרִי and pronounced "kri" or "keri", reflecting the opinion that it is a passive participle rather than an imperative. This is reflected in the Ashkenazi pronuncication "keri uchesiv" mentioned above.

Torah scrolls for use in public reading in synagogues contain only the Hebrew language consonantal text, handed down by tradition (with only a very limited and ambiguous indication of vowels by means of matres lectionis). However, in the Masoretic codices of the 9th–10th centuries, and most subsequent manuscripts and published editions of the Tanakh intended for personal study, the pure consonantal text is annotated with vowel points, cantillation marks and other diacritic symbols used by the Masoretes to indicate how it should be read and chanted, besides marginal notes serving various functions.


...
Wikipedia

...