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Qere and Kethib
Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.
Terms preserved in the Masoretic text (MT) of the Hebrew Bible, used to designate what is “written” (Kethib) and what is “read” (Qere).
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The Lexham Bible Dictionary
Qere and Kethib
Qere and Kethib Terms preserved in the Masoretic text (MT) of the Hebrew Bible, used to designate what is “written” (Kethib) and what is “read” (Qere).
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
Kethib and Qere
KETHIB AND QERE. A variance in the Masoretic Text between “what is written” (Heb kĕtı̂b) in the consonantal text and “what is read” (Heb qĕrê) according to the tradition of vocalization. These variances arose for a variety of reasons over the centuries of textual transmission, and are noted in several
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary
Kethib and Qere
Kethib and Qere [kə thēvˊ, kə rāˊ] (Heb. keṯîḇ “it is written,” qerê “to be read”). Forbidden to alter the sacred consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), scribes added some 1300 variant readings (Qere) in the margins. Some such emendations are intended to correct obvious errors in the text as transmitted
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Kere-Kethib
KERE-KETHIB (Kĕ rā-kĕ thēvʹ) Transliteration of Hebrew terms meaning “read” and “written.” The terms represent notations made in the margin of the Hebrew text by early scribes called Masoretes. In such cases the text has the written consonants of the traditional text, but the scribes had placed vowel
The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volumes 1–5
QERE-KETHIBH
QERE-KETHIBH kuh-ray´kuh-theev´ [קְרֵא כְּתיב‎ qereʾ-kethiv]. A combination of two Aramaic terms meaning “(what is) read (aloud) or pronounced” (Qere) and “(what is) written” (Kethibh). The combination describes a phenomenon in the Hebrew text of the OT where two different words are indicated by one written