The phrase "not in Heaven" is
understood to justify human authority to interpret the Torah. The Talmud explains "[The Torah] is not in Heaven" to mean that the meaning of the Torah itself is to be uncovered not by prophets, or even God's
miracles or words, but by humankind's interpretation and decision-making. In the story of
the Oven of Akhnai, "
Rabbi Yehoshua affirmed the independence of human interpretation from divine intervention since this is what God wills. In support he adduces the biblical statement that the Torah is 'not in heaven' ()." In the
academic study of Jewish law, the verse "not in Heaven" serves as the Biblical grounding for the jurisprudential structure of
halakhah (Jewish law). The source for Rabbinic authority is really from (According to the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do). As one author explains, thanks to the
midrashic reading of the verse, "...God himself acquiesced in His exclusion from the halakhic process. Having revealed His will in Sinai in the
grundnorm, He Himself, according to the Rabbinic explanation, entrusted the interpretation of His will to the Sages."
See also •
Eliezer ben Hurcanus, against whom
Rabbi Yehoshua cited "not in Heaven" on the case of
The Oven of Akhnai == Bibliography ==