His general character was likewise extolled. A contemporary rabbi, Eleazar of Modi'im, lecturing on "Exodus" 18:21, cited Hanina ben Dosa and his colleagues as examples of the expression "men of truth". Two centuries later an aggadist, commenting on "Isaiah" 3:3, said, "By the term 'honorable man' is meant one through whose merits Heaven respects favorable to his generation; such a one was Hanina ben Dosa". Nor was Hanina's wife soon forgotten; long after her death, legend relates, a party of seafarers espied a work-basket studded with diamonds and pearls. A diver attempted to seize it, but was deterred by a "bat kol" which said that the precious basket was designed for the wife of Hanina ben Dosa, who would eventually fill it with tekhelet wool for the saints of the future.