Hebrew
The earliest method of indicating some vowels in Hebrew writing was to use the consonant letters
yod י,
waw ו,
he ה,and
aleph א of the Hebrew alphabet to also write long
vowels in some cases. Originally, א and ה were only used as matres lectiones at the end of words, and י and ו were used mainly to write the original
diphthongs /aw/ and /aj/ as well as original vowel+[y]+vowel sequences (which sometimes simplified to plain long vowels). Gradually, as it was found to be insufficient for differentiating between similar nouns, י and ו were also inserted to mark some long vowels of non-diphthongal origin.
If words can be written with or without
matres lectionis, spellings that include the letters are called
malē (Hebrew) or
plene (Latin), meaning "full", and spellings without them are called
ḥaser or
defective. In some verb forms,
matres lectionis are almost always used. Around the 9th century CE, it was decided that the system of
matres lectionis did not suffice to indicate the vowels precisely enough for purposes of liturgical recitation of Biblical texts so a supplemental
vowel pointing system (
niqqud) (diacritic symbols indicating vowel pronunciation and other important phonological features not written by the traditional basic consonantal orthography) joined
matres lectionis as part of the Hebrew writing system.
In some words in Hebrew, there is a choice of whether to use a
mater lectionis or not, and in modern printed texts
matres lectionis are sometimes used even for short vowels, which is considered to be grammatically incorrect according to traditional norms, though instances are found as far back as
Talmudic times. Such texts from Judaea and Galilee were noticeably more inclined to
malē spellings than texts from
Babylonia. Similarly, in the
Middle Ages,
Ashkenazi Jews tended to use
malē spellings under the influence of
European languages, but
Sephardi Jews tended to use
ḥaser spellings under the influence of Arabic.
Wikipedia,
Matres Lectionis.
See Professor Emanuel Tov
here.
We know of various accounts of
tiqqun soferim where the scribes emended the text where it said things they deemed unacceptable. We know for certain of particular cases. But we don't know everywhere that a particular scribe (or group of scribes) might have emended the text to fix it from saying things that would, clearing throat, confuse Jews into thinking things they shouldn't really be considering. Rashi himself said it's ok to misinterpret the text if it guards it from Christian interpretations.
Qere and
ketiv covered some of the cases of matres lectionis, but not necessarily all cases:
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. That Masoretic reading or pronunciation is known as the
qere (Aramaic קרי "to be read"), while the pre-Masoretic consonantal spelling is known as the
ketiv (Aramaic כתיב "(what is) written").
The basic consonantal text written in the
Hebrew alphabet was rarely altered; but sometimes the Masoretes noted a different reading of a word than that found in the pre-Masoretic consonantal text. The scribes used
qere/ketiv to show, without changing the received consonantal text, that in their tradition a different reading of the text was to be used.
Qere were also used to correct obvious errors in the consonantal text without changing it.[
citation needed]
However, not all
qere/ketiv represented cases of textual doubt; sometimes the change is deliberate. For example, in Deut. 28:27, the ketiv word
ובעפלים ophalim, "
hemorrhoids," was replaced with the qere
וּבַטְּחֹרִים techorim, "
abscesses," because the ketiv was (after the return from Exile) considered too obscene to read in public.
[1] A very high percentage of
qere/ketiv is accounted for by change of dialect from old archaic Hebrew to later Hebrew. When the old Hebrew dialect fell into disuse and certain words became unfamiliar to the masses, the scribes amended the original dialect to the later familiar dialect. A good example is the word "Jerusalem," which in old Hebrew was always written ירושלם, but in a later period was written ירושלים. The qere provides the more familiar reading without altering the text. This is also evident throughout
2 Kings 4, where the archaic Hebrew
2p feminine form of
-ti is consistently eliminated by the qere, which replaces it with the familiar standard form of
-t.
[2]
In such Masoretic texts, the vowel diacritics of the
qere (the Masoretic reading) would be placed in the main text, added around the consonantal letters of the
ketiv (the written variant to be substituted – even if it contains a completely different number of letters), with a special sign indicating that there was a marginal note for this word. In the margins there would be a ק sign (for
qere), followed by the consonants of the
qere reading. In this way, the vowel points were removed from the
qere and written instead on the
ketiv. Despite this, the vowels and consonantal letters of the
qere were still meant to be read together.
Wikipedia,
Qere and Ketiv.
So you see, a Tanakh text that might be read to imply part of Messiah's name includes Nazareth, or Galilee, could give a card-carrying scribe a real case of hemorrhoids, or else be considered more unacceptable than the uses of the word hemorrhoids in a sacred Jewish text.
And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Matthew 21:11.
Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou wast with Jesus of Galilee.
Matthew 26:69.
In the times of the approach of Messiah . . . Galilee shall be destroyed.
Mishnah Sotah 9.
John