כִּ֚י הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לֹֽא־נִפְלֵ֥את הִוא֙ מִמְּךָ֔ וְלֹ֥א רְחֹקָ֖ה הִֽוא׃ לֹ֥א בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲלֶה־לָּ֤נוּ הַשָּׁמַ֙יְמָה֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃ וְלֹֽא־מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיָּ֖ם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲבָר־לָ֜נוּ אֶל־עֵ֤בֶר הַיָּם֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃ כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃
(11) For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. (12) It is not in heaven, that thou should say: ‘Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?’ (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say: ‘Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?’ (14) But the word is very close to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.
(ב) לֹֽא־תִהְיֶ֥ה אַחֲרֵֽי־רַבִּ֖ים לְרָעֹ֑ת וְלֹא־תַעֲנֶ֣ה עַל־רִ֗ב לִנְטֹ֛ת אַחֲרֵ֥י רַבִּ֖ים לְהַטֹּֽת׃ (ג) וְדָ֕ל לֹ֥א תֶהְדַּ֖ר בְּרִיבֽוֹ׃
(2) Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd— (3) nor shall you show deference to a poor man in his dispute.
Alternative translation: Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. Do not testify falsely in a dispute; [rather] incline after the majority.
If one cut an earthenware oven widthwise into segments, and placed sand between each and every segment, Rabbi Eliezer deems it ritually pure. Because of the sand, its legal status is not that of a complete vessel, and therefore it is not susceptible to ritual impurity. And the Rabbis deem it ritually impure, as it is functionally a complete oven.
And this is known as the oven of akhnai. The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of akhnai, a snake, in this context? Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: It is characterized in that manner due to the fact that the Rabbis surrounded it with their statements like this snake, which often forms a coil when at rest, and deemed it impure. The Sages taught: On that day, when they discussed this matter, Rabbi Eliezer answered all possible answers in the world to support his opinion, but the Rabbis did not accept his explanations from him.
Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (34-35)
R. Yehoshua is arguing with God from God's own text. You gave up your right as author and even as divine voice to interpret Your Torah, when You said, "it is not in heaven." R. Yehoshua is, then, not only describing or making a claim about interpretation, but instituting and creating the Oral Torah.
Robert A. Burt, "Precedent and Authority in Antonin Scalia's Jurisprudence", 1691.
The cumulative implications of his opinions in these cases is that Scalia does not honor precedent as such...[one might say that he] works from an essentially egalitarian premise, both among present-day interpreters and between present-day and past interpreters... Because God no longer directly speaks to anyone, that is, there is no ideological basis for any single interpreter to claim special status as God's anointed prophet. The same texts are available to everyone and the claim for special erudition or agility in interpreting these texts must rest on persuasion, not on apodictic assertions of self-evidently authoritative Divine sanction.