5514. Twelve are we, brothers' means all truths in their entirety. 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 else to the tribes named after them, as well as to the twelve apostles - as all aspects of faith in their entirety, dealt with in 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 2553, 3272, 3488, 3858, 3862, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060.

577. Twelve means faith, or those things in their entirety that belong to love and faith deriving from it. Many details from the Word may confirm this - the twelve sons of Jacob and their names, the twelve tribes of Israel, and the Lord's twelve disciples. These matters however will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with later on, in particular in Genesis 29, 30.