Bekhorot 45B

יתר בידיו וברגליו. אמר רבי יצחק: ושניהם מקרא אחד דרשו, ותהי עוד מלחמה, וכתיב: ״ויהי איש מדון אצבע ידיו ואצבע רגליו שש ושש״, מר סבר בגנותיה משתעי, ומר סבר בשבחיה משתעי.

§ The Mishnah teaches that if one has an extra appendage on his hands and on his feet, 6 on each for a total of 24, R' Yehuda deems him fit while the Rabbis disqualify him. R' Yitzḥak says: And both derived their opinions from one verse, as it is stated with regard to David’s war against the Philistines: “And there was again war at Gath” (II Samuel 21:20), and it is also written in that same verse: “And there was a champion, who had on every hand 6 fingers, and on every foot 6 toes, 24 in number.” One Sage, i.e., the Rabbis, holds that the verse speaks of negative qualities of the champion, and therefore it may be derived from here that extra appendages are blemishes; and one Sage, R' Yehuda, holds that the verse speaks in his praise, which means that extra appendages are not blemishes at all.

אמר רבה: מה לי דכתיב ״שש ושש עשרים וארבע מספר״? צריכי, דאי כתב רחמנא ״שש ושש״ הוה אמינא: שית דידיה ושית דכרעיה, כתב ״עשרים וארבע״. ואי כתב ״עשרים וארבע״ הוה אמינא: הוא חמש מהאי גיסא ושבע מהאי גיסא, כתב ״שש ושש״. ״מספר״⁠ — בנספרת על גבי היד.

With regard to that verse, Rabba says: Why do I need that which is written in the verse: “On every hand 6 fingers, and on every foot 6 toes, 24 in number”? Isn’t it obvious that one who has 6 appendages on each limb will have 24 in total? Rabba explains: All of these details are necessary, as, had God written only 12, I would say there were 6 of his hand and 6 of his foot, i.e., he had only 12 appendages. Therefore, God wrote “24.” And had God written only “24,” I would say he had 5 fingers on this side and 7 fingers on that side. Therefore, the verse wrote 12. The verse concludes with the term “in number” to indicate that these fingers were counted in a single row on the back of the hand.