All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;This is an interesting issue. A man is found dead, out in the open, no clues to who did it. There must still be atonement, but there is no one known from whom to exact punishment. What do you do?
God gives instruction for this case. The nearest town is to make a sacrifice, but not in the normal way. They don't slaughter the heifer, they break its neck. They don't do it at the temple, they do it in an unused valley. They don't give part of the animal to the Levites, but the Levites are part of the ceremony. A life is still taken, but not in the normal way. The atonement is made by the elders of that town, even though they are not guilty.
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