10408. 'And they said, These are your gods, O Israel' means that it was to be worshipped above all things. This is clear from the meaning of 'gods' as things that are worshipped. The true meaning of 'foreign gods' is falsities, but at this point the meaning is evils as well as falsities because 'a graven image', which must be understood when it says that Aaron fashioned the gold with a chisel, means falsity, and 'a molded image' the evil of that falsity. For the meaning of 'foreign gods' as falsities and resulting evils in worship, see 4402(end), 4544, 7873, 8867, 8941.

4875. 'Your cord' means through truth, that is to say, truth accompanying the token of consent. This is clear from the meaning of 'a cord' as truth. The reason 'a cord' means truth is that it is one of the items associated with 'garments', and 'garments' in general means truths, for the reason that as garments clothe the flesh, so truths clothe good, 297, 2132, 2576, 4545, 4763. Among the ancients therefore whatever clothing they wore meant some specific or individual truth. Consequently a tunic had one meaning, a chlamys another, and a toga another; also coverings for the head, such as a turban and a mitre, had one meaning, coverings for the thighs and feet, such as breeches, stockings, and so on, had another meaning. But 'a cord' meant outermost or lowest truth, for it was made from threads twisted together, by which the final demarcation of that kind of truth was meant. This kind of truth is again meant by 'a cord' in Moses,

Every open vessel on which there is no covering [or] cord [to fasten it] is unclean. Numbers 19:15.

By this was meant that nothing should exist without having an outer limit, for that which does not have an outer limit is 'open'. Furthermore outermost truths serve as the outer limit and terminus of interior truths.