Rabbinic authority in Judaism relates to the theological and communal authority attributed to rabbis and their pronouncements in matters of Jewish law. The extent of rabbinic authority differs by various Jewish groups and denominations throughout history.

The origins of rabbinic authority in Judaism is understood as originally linked to the High Court of ancient Israel and Judah, known as the Sanhedrin. Scholars understand that the extent of rabbinic authority, historically, would have related to areas of Jewish civil, criminal, and ritual law, while rabbinic positions that relate to non-legal matters, such as Jewish philosophy would have been viewed as non-binding.

Rabbinic authority also distinguished the practice of Judaism by the Pharisees (i.e., Rabbinic Judaism) to the religious practice of the Sadducees and the Qumran sect. This concept is linked with the acceptance of rabbinic law, which separates Judaism from other offshoot religions such as Samaritanism and Karaite Judaism.

In contemporary Orthodox Judaism, rabbinic authority is sometimes referred to as da'as Torah (or da'at Torah) (Hebrew: דעת תורה, literally "opinion of Torah"), and the notion of rabbinic authority in this context is often extended beyond the confines of Jewish law, but to a variety of personal, social and political matters.

One of the commandments in Hebrew Bible relate the establishment of a High Court, known as the Sanhedrin, in the Temple in Jerusalem. In this context, there is a biblical injunction against straying from the rulings of the Sanhedrin. This precept is referred to as "lo tasur" (Hebrew: לא תסור) and is sourced from the Book of Deuteronomy which states:

According to the law which they will teach you and according to the judgment which they will tell you, you shall do; you should not turn aside (lo tasur) from the things that they will declare to you neither to the right nor to the left.

— Deuteronomy 17:11

According to Jewish scholars, only when the majority of the Sanhedrin (or another centralized court) that represents the entire Jewish people formally votes does the Biblical injunction of lo tasur apply. Additionally, this precept only applies to the early rabbinic positions from the era of the Mishna and Talmud, but not to the rabbis of later generations. Community leaders similarly share some of the rights of the Sanhedrin, but this applies only where the majority of the community accepts their authority. Individuals who are not community members are not required to follow the decisions of community leaders. The medieval rabbinic authority, Moses Maimonides, lists the injunction of lo tasur as the 312th biblical commandment (of the 613 commandments). Aside from the injunction of lo tasur there is a separate Biblical commandment to respect and honor Torah scholars, even if one disagrees with their views.