When Boaz sent Ruth home in the early morning, he poured into her shawl "six measures of barley" (Ruth 3:15). The sages, reading closely, asked: can this really mean six grains, so small a gift? It must be six measures. But was it usual for a woman to shoulder such a weight?
No, the sages said. Boaz was not weighing out grain. He was sending a hint. The number six was prophecy in a husk: six descendants would proceed from her, and each would be blessed with six blessings.
There was David, of whom it is written (1 Samuel 16:18): "cunning in playing, a mighty and valiant man, a man of war, prudent in matters, a comely person, and the Lord is with him."
There was the Mashiach, the anointed one yet to come, of whom Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 11:2): "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him — the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord."
And there were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, of whom Scripture records (Daniel 1:4): "young men in whom was no blemish, handsome in looks, intelligent in wisdom, acquainted with knowledge, understanding science, and able to stand in the palace of the king."
What did "no blemish" mean? Rav Chama ben Chanina said not even the scar of a lancet had marked them. Six grains, six sons, six blessings apiece — a whole dynasty hidden in a field gift at dawn.
(From the 1901 Hebraic Literature anthology, drawing on Sanhedrin 93a-b.)