Under old covenant law, the priests of Israel were to be provided for from the sacrifices (Leviticus 2:3, Leviticus 2:10; Leviticus 7:28–36; Leviticus 10:12–15; Numbers 18:18; Deuteronomy 18:1–5). But in this case, the priests were seeking to procure additional meat, beyond their allotted portion. Their actions are equivalent to theft.
13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand,