This work has 3 levels of concern: 1. 'The direct examination, from a morphological point of view, of cultic and social phenomena connected with the temple and deriving from its essential nature - an examination which illuminates at least some aspects of the biblical cult, important enough in and of themselves.' 2. 'The second level is an attempt to demonstrate the antiquity of all the material embodied in the Penta- teuchal priestly source (P).' 3. 'The third level is an attempt to show that even the literary crystallization of P must have taken place in pre-exilic times...' Chapter and verse references are to the Massoretic Bible and most of the biblical quotations are from the Revised Standard Version. There are Hebrew characters in the footnotes and a transliteration of Hebrew words in the text. Generally a meaning of the Hebew is given.