Corrections in Column 153 of the Vienna Scroll

 

It appears the scribe of this scroll, in this section of numbers, had to correct text.  This is yet another indication of the active nature of the Kaifeng Torah Scrolls - we see abundant evidence of good knowledge of Hebrew, and the employment of corrections when necessary.  When can see from the words "And the tribe of Naphtali..." to "...and his host" the scribe erased the original wording, squeezing this in existing line structues.

We can also see evidence of correction, and comprehension, in this example:

Here, a yod and mem were left out of the original spelling, and added, probably be the same scribe.  Rather than erase the letter, the scribe added the missing letters above.  The Kaifeng Jewish scribes have been accused of being wrote copiers - but here we see evidence of comprehension of the text.