5440. 'And they said, Twelve are your servants, brothers are we' means that all aspects of faith existed joined together in this manner. This is clear from the meaning of 'twelve' as all, and when used as it is here in reference to the sons of Jacob, or to the tribes named after them, and also when used in reference to the apostles, all aspects of faith in their entirety are meant, dealt with in 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 2553, 3272, 3488, 3858, 3862, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060; and from the meaning of 'brothers' as their existing joined together through good, for when joined together through good truths assume a kind of brotherly relationship with one another. If in the absence of good they appear to be joined together, they are not in fact so joined; falsities resulting from evil always come in and set them apart. The reason this happens is that those truths do not then have the same origin from which they spring, nor do they have the same end to which they look. If they are to exist joined together they must do so from start to finish. Good from which they spring must be there right from the start, and good to which they look must be there through to the finish. Furthermore, that good must reign everywhere there if the truths are to exist joined together; for that which reigns everywhere effects the joining together. 'A brother' means the affection for good, and so good itself, see 2524, 2360, 3303, 3459, 3803, 3815, 4121.