88 JOSEPH BLENKINSOPP While the affinity between these two bodies of material — Numbers and texts of Deuteronomistic inspiration not confined to the book of Deuteronomy – is fairly uncontroversial, the same cannot be said for the question of relative chronology. There appears, however, to be a growing consensus that much of the narrative and instructional material in Numbers belongs to a late stage in the incremental and cumulative process which resulted in the Pentateuch, certainly a later stage than the redaction of the bulk of the Deuteronomic material 4. Many would also agree that much of this narrative and instructional material appears to be derivative from and supplementary to P rather than part of PG. Among the more obvious indications are lists of mandatory offerings to the sanctuary additional to those in Leviticus (chapters 7,19,28), the delayed Passover for those ritually unclean (Num 9,1-14), and the progressive reduction of the minimum age for entry into the Levitical order as the range of functions and tasks assigned to Levites increase. The age is progressively lowered from thirty (Num 4,3.23.30; 1 Chr 23,3.25) to twenty-five (Num 8,24), and finally to twenty (Ezra 3,8; 1 Chr 23,24-27; 2 Chr 31,17). II. Sources and composition The Baal Peor episode is therefore a central point in the temporal and spatial co-ordinates of Israelite origins, perhaps even the Archimedean point in the formation of the narrative content of the Pentateuch. Coming now to the episode itself: the account of what transpired at Baal Peor has been read routinely as a combination of two incidents: the first, an early J or JE account of Israelites seduced by Moabite women to join in the Baal Peor cult, often thought to be accompanied by orgiastic rites (25,1-5); the second, a report, marked by priestly language and themes, about a liaison between Zimri, a Simeonite chieftain, and Cozbi, daughter of a distinguished Midianite clan leader, followed by the swift retribution visited on this unfortunate couple by the Aaronid Phineas (25,6-18) 5. I want to suggest a somewhat different reading. Since there is nothing in vv. 1-5 characteristic 4 Among the more obvious examples would be the role of the Aaronid priests, predominant throughout Numbers and absent from Deuteronomy with the exception of brief allusions to Aaron’s death in Deut 2,40 and 10,6-9, probably Priestly glosses, and the uncomplimentary reference to Aaron in- volved in the Golden Calf episode (9,20). Numbers also refers routinely to the Israelite assembly as the ‘ēdâ, a term absent from Deuteronomy. An even clearer instance is the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram, alluded to in Deut 11,6-7 and transformed in Num 16,1-17,15 into a Levitical rebellion led by Korah with the support of Dathan and Abiram and other lay persons. 5 To name only some points in the discussion of the passage: J. WELL- HAUSEN, Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel (New York 1957 [Ger-