1. The Latin word here translated "secrets" is arcana, which generally refers to sacred secrets or mysteries; the English equivalent, "arcana," has a similar sense, but has come to have a more limited use. Most previous translations of this work retained the Latin title Arcana Coelestia, literally, "heavenly arcana." [RS]

2. Although the use of the term "the Word" for the Bible was common in Swedenborg's time, his conception of "the Word" does not include all the books of which the Bible is generally understood to be composed. He generally limits his definition of "the Word" to those parts of Scripture that he believes to have an inner meaning throughout: the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the historical books (Joshua, Judges, 1, 2 Samuel, 1, 2 Kings), the Psalms, the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi), the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), and Revelation. He thus omits certain parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, such as 1, 2 Chronicles, Ruth, Proverbs, and the Song of Solomon, as well as the writings of the apostles in the Greek Scriptures. For a discussion of his reasons for these omissions, see his letter to his friend Gabriel Beyer (1720-1779) dated April 15, 1766, cited in Acton 1948-1955, 612-613, and quoted in the introduction to this volume, pages 86-87 [NCBSP: in the printed edition]. On the use of the term "the Lord" in Swedenborg's writings, see note 2 in §1. [GFD, RS]

3. Swedenborg describes the next world as being divided into three major areas: heaven, hell, and a middle region called the world of spirits (see §5852, for example). A fourth area could be added: the "underground realm" (see note 2 in §247). [LHC] In his 1758 work Heaven and Hell 421, Swedenborg says, "The world of spirits is neither heaven nor hell but a place or state between the two. It is where we first arrive after death, being in due time either raised into heaven or cast into hell from it depending on our life in this world." (The translations from Heaven and Hell quoted in these notes are those of George F. Dole.) Angels form an extremely important part of Swedenborg's metaphysical system. Key aspects of his thought in this regard are that angels are persons in the strict sense, not abstract forces or entities. They have bodies as we do, and even wear clothing and live in houses in heaven (Heaven and Hell 73-77, 177-190). Moreover, angels were not originally created as such: every angel was at one point a person alive either on this earth or on some other planet (see his 1758 work Other Planets 1). Much of Swedenborg's information about the unseen worlds is reported in the form of conversations with angels. [RS]

4. Swedenborg later came to refer to these "accounts of the wonders ... seen in the world of spirits and in the heaven of angels" with the Latin term memorabilia. Traditionally they have been referred to in English as either "memorabilia" or "memorable relations;" in the annotations to this edition they are called "accounts of memorable occurrences," or some variation of that term. (Strictly speaking, the first separate "memorable occurrences" distinctly labeled in small capitals in the first editions appeared in Swedenborg's 1766 work Revelation Unveiled, but the term has since been applied to the shorter accounts embedded in his previous material.) Because of their basis in Swedenborg's spiritual experiences, these accounts are also sometimes referred to as "experiential" material (as opposed to doctrinal or exegetical). Swedenborg apparently saw the experiential material in the Secrets of Heaven volumes as the reader's easiest avenue of access to the work; in order to distinguish it, he had it printed in italics, in slightly larger type, and with more space between the lines. In this table of experiential material in the first volume, the first edition (the Latin edition of 1749) cites the passages by page number, an odd exception to Swedenborg's customary use of section numbers to refer to his text. He may have felt that the use of page numbers would make these topics more accessible to the browsing reader. The corresponding section numbers have been substituted in this edition. It should be noted that this first volume of the present edition contains about half the material in the first volume of Swedenborg's edition; so that when he here refers to "accounts of the wonders" (Latin mirabilia) appearing "in this first volume," the reader must understand that the passages cited after §946 appear now in volume 2. The same applies to the section numbers cited just above in the text. [SS]

5. Swedenborg describes heaven as having the form of a single human being, which he calls maximus homo, here translated "universal human." See §§550, 911:2, and the sections referred to here by Swedenborg. See also note 1 in §318 below. [LHC]

1. Kadmonites are not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture. Kenites and Kenizzites are mentioned in Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, and 1 Chronicles; but Secrets of Heaven, which does not extend beyond Exodus, does not treat the inner meaning of these people. For the symbolism of Hittites, see §§289, 1203:2, 2913, 3470:1, 6858. For that of Jebusites, see §6860. Swedenborg explains the symbolism of Girgashites in the previous section. [LHC]

2. For a list of the nations that the Israelites were commanded to expel from the land of Canaan, see Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 3:10; the biblical account records, however, that not all members of all those nations were expelled (1 Kings 9:20-21). The expulsion of the Jews from Palestine occurred through three major events: 1. the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 b.c.e., as a result of which the inhabitants were dispersed throughout the Middle East and absorbed into local populations (these are the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel;" see 2 Kings 17:8-23); 2. the relocation of much of the population of the southern kingdom of Judah to Babylon under the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 587-586 b.c.e. (a number of these displaced persons were allowed to return by the Persian king Cyrus in 538 b.c.e. following his conquest of Babylon; see 2 Kings 17; 2 Chronicles 36:5-23; Ezra 1); and 3. the expulsion of practically the entire population of Judea by the Romans following the Jewish War of 66-73 c.e. After this point there was only an extremely small Jewish population in Palestine until the twentieth century. [RS]

3. For examples in the prophets of nations driven out of their own lands, see Isaiah 20; Jeremiah 48; 49; Ezekiel 16:53; 30:13-26; Amos 1:3-15; Zephaniah 2:4-7. [LSW]