8005. 'And you shall not break a bone of it' means that factual knowledge of truth must also remain intact. This is clear from the meaning of 'a bone' as what is last and lowest, serving as a foundation for more internal things to rest on and as a support to prevent them from falling apart. This last and lowest support in spiritual things is factual knowledge; for all spiritual truths and forms of good flow down in accordance with order towards lower levels, coming to rest finally in factual knowledge, in which a person can then catch sight of them. As for the meaning of 'you shall not break' - that such knowledge must remain intact - this is self-evident. Factual knowledge is said to remain intact when it lets into itself nothing but truths that are in accord with its good; for factual knowledge is the general receptacle of them. Furthermore items of knowledge are like the bones in a person's body. If they do not remain intact or properly arranged, as when they are dislocated or are bent out of shape, the form of the body is consequently altered, and that altered form conditions its movements. Factual knowledge of truth may be equated with matters of doctrine.