Leviticus 22

After reading chapter 22:

*More rules about the "sacred offering" for the priests:
-They must treat the offerings to God with respect, even though God doesn't need them, he won't use them, and they will get to use the leftovers from the offerings themselves.
-They must not come near the offerings if they are unclean or they will be cut off from Yahweh's presence. Does that mean they will no longer be able to serve as a priest or does it mean excommunication?
-A descendant of Aaron will not be allowed to eat any of the sacred offerings, if he is unclean by an infectious skin disease or bodily discharge, until he is cleansed. What will he eat, and where will he get it from?
-He also can't eat any of the sacred offering if he is unclean from touching something defiled by a corpse or a person with an emission of semen (How will he know? Did the priests have to ask all the men they came in contact with if they had an emission of semen in the last 24 hours? ),  touching an unclean crawling animal, touching an unclean person, or eating found meat. These will make him unclean and he will have to wash and wait til evening to be magically clean again.
-They must keep these requirements or they will be guilty (Of what?) and may die because of it. Verse 9

*No one at at all outside of the priest's immediate family may eat any of the sacred offering, with one exception: his personal slaves. Yes, priests can buy and own slaves, Yahweh has no objections. If the priest's daughter marries outside the priesthood, she is no longer permitted to eat from this holy food. But if she is widowed or divorced and has to come back to live with her father, she can eat the food.

*If anyone eats the sacred food by mistake, he must pay the priest back and add a fifth of the value to it. Who is the extra fifth for, God or the priest?

*Verses 17-25 are rules for the physical condition of the animals to be sacrificed. They must have no defect or blemish of any kind when it is a burnt offering or fellowship offering that is used to fulfill a special vow or as a free will offering. An animal with damaged testicles will not be accepted, presumably this includes castrated animals. These are not acceptable as food for their God. (Or the priests.) Verse 25.

*An newborn sacrifice must remain with its mother for seven days. After that, it is free to be ritually killed, burnt, and eaten. A mother animal and her young may not be slaughtered for sacrifice  on the same day. Why? Well, that's another mystery. It certainly can't be to recognize the sanctity of motherhood.

*We end with a reminder that Yahweh is holy, and he makes the Israelites holy, so they better do what he says.

Articles of interest:
Herodotus on animal sacrifice in ancient Egypt
Scholarly article on sacrifice in Britannica