4926. 'And she said, Why have you made a breach upon yourself?' means this truth's apparent separation from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a breach' as an infringement upon and perversion of truth through its separation from good, dealt with below. Here 'making a breach' plainly means pulling away the twice-dyed thread from the hand and so separating good; for good is meant by 'twice-dyed', 4922. As regards this separation being an apparent one, this follows from the fact that it appeared to the midwife that a separation had taken place; but in reality it was not the twin with the twice-dyed thread who came out but his brother, who represents truth. On these matters, see what has been shown immediately above in 4925, where it is shown that good is in actual fact the firstborn but that truth appears to be such. This can be illustrated further still from the functions and members within the human body. The appearance is that the members and organs are first and that the functions these perform are subsequent; for the organs and members present themselves to the eye and are also known before their functions are seen or known. But in spite of this appearance the functions are prior to the members and organs since these derive their existence from the functions they serve and so receive their own forms to accord with these functions. Indeed the function itself gives them these forms and accommodates them to itself. If this were not so, all the individual parts of the human body could not possibly act together in so harmonious a way that they make a single whole. The same may be said about good and truth. The appearance is that truth is first, but in reality good is, in that good gives truths the forms they take and accommodates them to itself. Therefore regarded essentially truths are nothing else than goods which have been given form, that is, they are the forms good takes. In relation to good, truths are also like the internal organs and the fibres of the body in relation to the functions these perform. Also, regarded essentially good is nothing else than the function.

[2] The meaning of 'a breach' as an infringement upon truth and a perversion of it through its separation from good is also clear from other places in the Word, as in David,

Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets, our oxen are laden; there is no breach. Psalms 144:13-14.

This refers to the Ancient Church as it was in its youth. 'The food' with which 'the storehouses are full' stands for spiritual food, that is, for truth and good. 'Flocks' and 'oxen' stand for forms of good, internal and external. 'There is no breach' stands for the fact that truth has not suffered any infringement upon it or perversion of it through separation from good.

[3] In Amos,

I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up their breaches, and I will restore its destroyed places; and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.

This refers to a Church where good is present. 'The tent of David that is fallen down' means the good of love and charity received from the Lord. For 'a tent' meaning that good, see 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391, 4599, and 'David' the Lord, 1888. 'Closing up the breaches' stands for correcting falsities which have entered in through the separation of truth from good. 'Building it as in the days of old' stands for as the state of the Church was in ancient times. In the Word that state at that time is called 'the days of eternity', 'the days of old', and also 'of generation upon generation'.

[4] In Isaiah,

He that is of you is building the waste places of old; raise up the foundations of generation upon generation, and may you be called the one repairing the breach, the one restoring paths to dwell in. Isaiah 58:12.

This refers to a Church where charity and life are the essential thing. 'Repairing the breach' again stands for correcting falsities which have crept in through the separation of good from truth, the origin of all falsity. 'Restoring paths to dwell in' stands for truths which are linked to good, for 'paths' or ways are truths, 627, 2333, and 'dwelling in' is used in reference to good, 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613.

[5] In the same prophet,

You saw that the breaches of the city of David were very many, and you collected the waters of the lower pool. Isaiah 22:9.

'The breaches of the city of David' stands for falsities of doctrine. 'The waters of the lower pool' stands for traditions by which they introduced blemishes into the truths contained in the Word, Matthew 15:1-6; Mark 7:1-13. In Ezekiel,

You have not gone up into the breaches and made a hedge for the house of Israel, so that you might stand in war on the day of Jehovah. Ezekiel 13:5.

In the same prophet,

I sought from among them a man making a hedge and standing in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30.

'Standing in the breach' stands for defending and guarding against the intrusion of falsities. In David,

Jehovah said He would destroy the people, unless Moses His chosen had stood in the breach before Him. Psalms 106:23.

'Standing in the breach' again means guarding against the intrusion of falsities; 'Moses' here meaning the Word - see Preface to Chapter 18 of Genesis, and 4859 (end).

[6] In Amos,

They will drag out the last of you with fish-hooks; you will go out through the breaches, every one from her own region; and you will cast down the palace. Amos 4:2-3.

'Going out through the breaches' stands for doing so through falsities resulting from reasonings. 'The palace' means the Word and consequently the truth of doctrine that is grounded in good. And because 'breaches' means falsity which arises through the separation of good from truth, the same is also meant in the representative sense by 'strengthening and repairing the breaches of the house of Jehovah', 2 Kings 12:5, 7-8, 12; 22:5. In the second Book of Samuel,

It grieved David that Jehovah had made a breach into Uzzah; therefore he called that place Perez Uzzah. 2 Samuel 6:8.

This refers to Uzzah, who died because he touched the ark. 'The ark' represented heaven, or in the highest sense the Lord, and therefore Divine Good. But 'Uzzah' represented that which ministers, and so represents truth since truth ministers to good. This separation is meant by 'a breach into Uzzah'.

4391. 'And made booths for his cattle' means a similar increase in good and truth at that time. This is clear from the meaning of 'cattle' as goods and truths in general, and from the meaning of 'making booths', which are tents, as something similar to what is meant by 'building a house', namely receiving an increase of good from truth. The two phrases differ in that 'building a house' means that which is less general, and so rather more internal, while 'making booths', or tents, means that which is more general, and so rather more external. The house was intended for themselves, that is to say, for Jacob, his womenfolk and children, the booths for the servants, flocks and herds. In the Word 'booths' or tents, strictly speaking, means the holiness of truth, and they are distinguished from tabernacles, which too are called tents, by the fact that the latter mean the holiness of good, 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 4128. The word in the original language for booths is 'succoth', whereas that for tabernacles is 'ohalim'. The holiness of truth is the good which springs from truth.

[2] This meaning carried by the booths or tents called 'succoth' is further evident from the following places in the Word: In David,

Jehovah God rode on a cherub, and flew, and was borne on the wings of the wind. He made darkness His hiding-place, and His surroundings His tent - darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. Psalms 18:10-11.

And elsewhere,

He bowed the heavens when He came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. And He rode on a cherub, and new, and was borne on the wings of the wind. And He made tents of darkness around Him, clusters of water, clouds of the heavens. 2 Samuel 22:10-12.

This refers to Divine revelation, or the Word. 'Bowing the heavens when He came down' stands for hiding the interior truths of the Word. 'Thick darkness under His feet' stands for the fact that compared with interior truths, those visible to man are like darkness, the literal sense of the Word being of such a nature. 'Riding on a cherub' stands for the fact that it was provided in this way. 'Making tents of the darkness around Him' or 'making His surroundings His tent' stands for the holiness of truth concealed in its hiding-place, that is to say, inwardly - within the literal sense. 'Clusters of waters and clouds of the heavens' means the Word in the letter. Regarding 'clouds of the heavens' meaning the Word in the letter, see Preface to Chapter 18 of Genesis, and 4060.

[3] The same is meant by the following in Isaiah,

Jehovah will create over every habitation of mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tent for shade by day, and for a refuge and hiding-place from deluge and rain. Isaiah 4:5-6.

Here again 'cloud' means the literal sense of the Word and 'the glory' the internal sense, as they do in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27. Again also 'a tent' stands for the holiness of truth. Interior truths are said to be in a hiding-place for the reason that if they had been revealed they would have been made profane, see 3398, 3399, 4289, a point that is also expressed in the following words in David,

In the hiding-place of Your face You conceal them from the treacherous plans of man; You hide them in a tent from the strife of tongues. Psalms 31:20.

[4] The fact that 'a tent' means the holiness of truth is also evident in Amos,

On that day I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up the breaches, and I will raise up its destroyed places, and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.

'Raising up the tent of David that is fallen down' stands for reestablishing the holiness of truth after it has perished. 'David' stands for the Lord as regards Divine Truth, 1888, since 'a king' means Divine Truth, 2015, 2069, 3009. Because 'tent' meant the holiness of truth and 'dwelling in tents' means worship that was the product of this, the feast of tents, called the feast of tabernacles, was established in the Jewish and Israelitish Church, Leviticus 23:34, 42-43; Deuteronomy 16:13, 16, where also that feast is called the feast of succoth, or of tents.