True Church (=True Israel) possesses True Rabbinic Authority

(1) From the days of Moses, the Levites based their legal rulings upon their interpretations of Sacred Scripture. In Hebrew, such Scripturally-based legal rulings are called Halakha. Thus, you could say that in early Israel, the Levites had "Halakhic authority" — to wit, the authority to make legally binding interpretations and applications of Sacred Scripture in the governing of Israel.

This Halakhic Authority was passed down from Moses to Joshua to the Prophets, to Ezra and the Great Council, and on to the Pharisees.


(2) "Binding" and "Loosing" are Hebrew terms for "Halakhic rulings" that, respectively, "forbid" and "allow" certain types of behavior. For example, in the Gospels, Jesus often disputes with Pharisees over healing on the Sabbath. Why? Because those Pharisees adhered to "Halakhic rulings" that (mis)interpreted Scripture to forbid that. Thus we say, using Hebrew terms, that those Pharisees "bound" healing on the Sabbath. Against them, Jesus Christ "loosed" healing on the Sabbath.

Note: Clearly, Christians must (by definition) believe that Jesus Christ's Halakhic Authority exceeded that of his Pharisee opponents. Otherwise, you believe that the Messiah of YHWH-God, guided by His Holy Spirit, would mis-interpret Scripture, which is the Words of YHWH-God.


(3) The Messiah gave Halakhic Authority to the Apostles, from whence by Apostolic Succession it has flowed into the (True) Church of (True) Christianity:

Matthew 16:19
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in Heaven."

Matthew 18:18
"Amen I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in Heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in Heaven."​

(4) ADDENDUM: The Halakhic Authority, given by God to Moses on Mount Horeb, was continuously preserved (if only by a remnant; cf. ) for well over 1,000 years until the days of the Messiah. During the Messiah's ministry (28-30 AD), the Messiah then assigned that Halakhic Authority to his Church.

Thus, as a point of detail, the Halakhic Rulings of those Pharisees (and their predecessors) who had the Halakhic Authority of Moses may be construed as binding upon Christians:

Matthew 23:2-4
saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have sat in the Chair of Moses. Therefore, all that they have told you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They bind burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.​

The expression "Chair of Moses" means having the (Halakhic) Authority of Moses. In Matt 23:2-4, the Messiah tells his followers to acknowledge and honor the Halakhic Rulings of the Pharisees up to his time. This is because, up until the days of the Messiah (28-30 AD), the Pharisees "sat in the Chair of Moses" and had the lawful Halakhic Authority passed down to them from the days of Moses over 1,000 years before.

It seems clear that, because of their burgeoning hypocrisy (as above, 'preaching without practicing') and sin, YHWH-God, through His Messiah, revoked their Halakhic Authority and re-assigned it to the Church of Christ.

Now, many of the most important Halakhic debates and rulings are preserved in the Jewish Talmud. The Talmud is a mammoth collection of Rabbinical rulings and Scriptural interpretations from (mainly) 200 BC - 500 AD. It is akin to having the "minutes" of the most important Rabbinical debates and discussions from that period.

THEREFORE, if the Talmud records a saying or ruling of Ezra (who, in his day, possessed Halakhic Authority and "sat in Moses' Chair") from 450 BC, before the ministry of the Messiah, that saying should be regarded with a high degree of authority.

HOWEVER, the Talmud is not God-breathed Scripture. To my knowledge, no where in the Talmud do the words "thus sayeth YHWH" or "YHWH sayeth" appear.

THEREFORE, I would offer that any such "pre-Messiah" passages of the Talmud be weighted the same as the Apocrypha or the writings of the Church Fathers — highly valuable for study, even cherished, but without any presumption of Divine Authority.


WARNING: There are movements afoot, well funded by certain political entities, that seek to impose upon Christians (indeed, all mankind) the authority of Rabbis to a far greater degree.

In particular, these "Noahide" movements attribute absolute authority to the Rabbis, and to the Talmud which records their words.

Furthermore, these movements seek to attribute this exalted authority to Rabbis from after the time of the Messiah's Ministry (28-30 AD) — even up through the present day.

Note that such an attribution of absolute authority to "post-Messiah" Rabbis exalts the very people who opposed and rejected the Messiah. True Christians, who call Jesus Christ their "Lord" and authority, should not do this.


COUNTER-MEASURES: If you can only remember a few lines of Scripture, remember these:

(I) The word "Rabbi" is Hebrew for "Teacher" (John 1:38, 20:16)

(II) Do not call any man 'Rabbi', "for you have one Rabbi, the Messiah" (Matt 23:10)

 

Luke 11:52
"Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge*; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering."

*Cf. Luke 1:77, "To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins."​

Matthew 16:19
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."​

The Messiah gave to the Apostle Simon Peter the keys that the Pharisees had hidden. This is another clear reference to the transfer of Halakhic Authority to the Apostles of Christ.

 

According to the NASB, it means "Teacher", as you are welcome to verify. The Greek word behind the English translation of "Teacher" is didaskalos (G1320) which means "teacher". It comes from the Greek root didask? (G1321), a verb meaning "to teach".

I have stated elsewhere, and I say again, that the NASB is the most literal translation commonly available.

The Greek word used in Matthew 23:8,10 is kathegetes (G2519). It comes from the root h?geomai (G2233), which means "hegemon" (cf. "hegemony") and means "leader / master".

Again, the tongue of Scripture is Greek, not English. Doctrinal arguments must be rooted in the Greek.


However, Matt 23:8-10 does convey a broadly similar meaning.