<P> Binding and loosing is originally a Jewish phrase appearing in the New Testament, as well as in the Targum . In usage, to bind and to loose simply means to forbid by an indisputable authority and to permit by an indisputable authority . The Targum to a particular Psalm implies that these actions were considered to be as effectual as the spell of an enchanter . </P> <P> The poseks had, by virtue of their ordination, the power of deciding disputes relating to Jewish law . Hence, the difference between the two main schools of thought in early classical Judaism were summed up by the phrase the school of Shammai binds; the school of Hillel looses . </P>

What does bind and loose mean in the bible