The Gemara read , "The scepter shall not depart from Judah," to refer to the Exilarchs of Babylon, who ruled over Jews with scepters (symbols of the authority of a ruler appointed by the Government). And the Gemara read the term "lawgiver" in to refers to the descendants of Hillel in the Land of Israel who taught the Torah in public. The Gemara deduced from this that an authorization held from the Exilarch in Babylonia held good in both Babylonia and the Land of Israel.