Bava Bathra, fol. 17, col. i.

According to Jewish tradition, there are 903 kinds of death, as is elicited by a Kabbalistic rule called gematria, from the word outlets (Ps. lxviii. 20); the numeric value of the letters of which word is 903.  Of these 903 kinds of death, the divine kiss is the easiest.  God puts His favorite children to sleep, the sleep of death, by kissing their souls away.  It was thus Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob fell asleep, as may be inferred from the word all; that is to say, they had all the honor God could confer upon them.  Moses and Aaron fell asleep by the divine kiss, for it is plainly stated to have been “by the mouth of Jehovah.”  So also Miriam passed away, only the Scripture does not say lest the scoffer should find fault.  We are also informed that quinsy is the hardest death of all. (See Berachoth, fol. 8, col. 1.)

“These six of barley gave he me.”  What does this mean?  It cannot surely be understood of six barleycorns, for it could not be the custom of Boaz to give a present of six grains of barley.  It must, therefore, have been six measures.  But was it usual for a woman to carry such a load as six measures would come to?  What he intended by the number six was to give her a hint that in process of time six sons would proceed from her, each of which would be blessed with six blessings; and these were David, the Messiah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  David, as it is written (1 Sam. xvi. 8), (1.) “Cunning in playing,” (2.) “and a mighty and valiant man,” (3.) “a man of war,” (4.) “prudent in matters,” (5.) “a comely person,” (6.) and “the Lord is with him.”  The Messiah, for it is written (Isa. xi. 2), “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,” viz, (1.) “The spirit of wisdom and (2.) understanding, (3.) the spirit of counsel and (4.) might, (5.) the spirit of knowledge, and (6.) the fear of the Lord.”  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, for regarding them it is written (Dan. i. 4), (1.) “Young men in whom was no blemish,” (2.) “handsome in looks,” (3.) “intelligent in wisdom,” (4.) “acquainted with knowledge,” (5.) “and understanding science, and such as (6.) had ability to stand in the palace of the king,” etc.  But what is the meaning of unblemished?  Rav Chama ben Chanania says it means that not even the scar of a lancet was upon them.

Sanhedrin, fol. 93, cols, 1, 2.

The words “not even the scar of a lancet was upon them,” bespeak the prevalence of blood-letting in the East, and the absence of the scar of the lancet on the persons of Daniel and his companions is a testimony to their health of body and moral temperance and purity.

In Taanith (fol. 21, col. 2) mention is made of a certain phlebotomist—­a noteworthy exception to the well-known rule (see Kiddushin, fol. 82, col. 2) that phlebotomists are to be regarded as morally depraved, and in the same class with goldsmiths,