AE 430 - twelve

AE 430 [1, 13, 15]

. . . "twelve" signifies all things and all persons,
and is predicated of truths from good . . ..

That Elijah found him plowing with twelve yoke of oxen,
and he among the twelve;
and that he cast his mantle upon him.
(1 Kings 19:19)

This was done and said
because Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord
in respect to the Word,
in which are all truths from good;
consequently when this representation
was transferred from Elijah to Elisha,
which was signified by his casting his mantle upon him,
Elisha was seen
"plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he among the twelve,"
which signifies the formation of the church
by means of truths from good out of the Word.

He who does not know
that "twelve" signifies all things
cannot know the arcanum that is signified by:

The twelve baskets of fragments
that remained from the five loaves and two fishes
with which the Lord fed five thousand men
besides women and children.
(Matt. 14:5-2; Mark 6:37-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:9-13)

Each particular here,
with the numbers themselves,
is significative;
"the five thousand men besides women and children,"
signify all who are of the church that are in truths from good;
the "men" signifying those who are in truths,
and the "women and children" those who are in good;
"loaves" the goods and
"fishes" the truths of the natural man;
"eating" spiritual nourishment from the Lord;
the "twelve baskets of fragments"
the knowledges of truth and good therefrom
in all abundance and fullness.