KERI CETIB, are various readings in the Hebrew
Bible: keri signifies that which is read; and cetib that
which is written. For where any such various readings
occur, the wrong reading is written in the text, and
that is called the cetib; and the true reading is written
in the margin, with p under it, and called the keri. It
is generally said by the Jewish writers, that these cor-
rections were introduced by Ezra; but it is most prob-
able, that they had their original from the mistakes of
the transcribers after the time of Ezra, and the obser-
vations and corrections of the Masorites. Those Keri
cetibs, which are in the sacred books written by Ezra
himself, or which were taken into the canon after his
time, could not have been noticed by Ezra himself;
and this affords a presumption, that the others are of
late date. Those words amount to about 1000; and
Dr Kennicott, in his Dissertatio Generalis, remarks,
that all of them, excepting 14, have been found in the
text of manuscripts.