Peshat and Midrash Halakha

The conventional approach among the commentators is thus that all of Chazal's interpretations are halakhically binding, but they do not void the validity of the peshat reading of the text.

However, the Ibn Ezra is of the belief that when the midrash halakha contradicts the plain meaning of the verse, it should not be regarded as an interpretation of the verse, but rather as an already-known law relying upon the verse only as asmakhta. In the realm of exegesis, the peshat is the only way of understanding the text, but when it comes to halakha, the Oral Law is binding – even where it does match the plain meaning. The source and authority of the halakha do not arise from the verse, but rather from the oral tradition.