The fire must be kept burning on the altar (6:9). The Hittite Instructions to Priests and Temple Officials also regulate fire at the residence of a deity. However, the concern is the opposite: to put the fire out at night so that it does not burn down the temple.74 Unlike the Hittite fire, the sacred, eternal flame on the Israelite altar had to be kept burning because it was lit by the deity (9:24).
They belong to the priest who makes atonement with them (7:7). In ancient Near Eastern religious cultures, it was common for priests to eat portions of food that had been dedicated to deities. Thus on the fourth day of the Hittite Ninth Year Festival of Telipinu, the priests eat sacrificial meat that has been presented to the god Telipinu.75
The Hittite Instructions to Priests and Temple Officials stipulate that all sacrificial food and drink must first be offered to the god. Then the priests and their family members consume it on the same day if possible, but if necessary, they may have up to three days (cf. Lev. 7:16–17, which gives a two-day limit).76 So human consumption of the food is secondary, after it is regarded as utilized by the god. Some Hittite food or drink items are permitted only to priests and some must be consumed within the sacred precincts (as in Lev. 6:16, 26; 7:6; 24:9, of food).77 While such Hittite procedures showed important similarities to Israelite ritual practice, Yahweh did not utilize human food before his priests ate it, so their consumption was not secondary.78
Besides edible portions, the hide of an animal was valuable and could serve as payment for an officiating priest both in Israelite (7:8) and Emar (Syria) ritual systems.79 The Punic Marseilles Tariff not only regulates distribution of dedicated items among priests and offerers; it sets monetary fees for some offerings in proportion to the size of the animals.80
Expression of thankfulness (7:12). Gratitude and vows (7:12, 16) could also motivate non-Israelites to make offerings to their deities. For example, the Phoenician king Yeḥawmilk gratefully gave works of art to his goddess.81 The Aramean king Bir-Hadad set up a stele “for his lord Melqart, to whom he made a vow and who heard his voice.”82 Here fulfillment of a votive obligation is also an expression of gratitude.83
That person must be cut off from his people (7:20). This terminal penalty for very serious sin (cf. Num. 15:30–31) is administered by God himself and denies the offender an afterlife, most likely through extirpation of his line of descendants.84 So it makes sense that a wrongdoer could be put to death and “cut off” as well (Lev. 20:2–3).
Non-Israelites also referred to the punishment of losing posterity. The Hittite Instructions to Priests and Temple Officials warn of consequences if the temple burns down because of neglect to properly extinguish the fire on the hearth: “He who commits this sin will perish along with his descendants. Of those in the temple none will be left living. They will perish together with their descendants.”85