This Bible commentary concerns the Greek versions of the Old Testament, its literary and scholarly qualities, and use as a source for later, English translations of the Biblical text. A study rich in profundity and the author's decisive scholarship, we find within this book a thorough, chapter-by-chapter comparison of the earliest versions of the Bible in Greek. The order and composition of the verses were arranged with the vocabulary differences placed into charts, that the reader may understand all with clarity. Much of Swete's thesis is concerned with the differences between the Alexandrian Old Testament and the Septuagint (commonly referred to as the LXX) - the earliest known iteration of the Bible in Greek. These two versions of the Old Testament differ in certain ways, and it is these divergences which allow for Swete's most detailed commentary.

Henry Barclay Swete (1835 1917) published An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek in 1900 as a manual to accompany his three-volume edition of the Septuagint (1887 1894) and to provide a guide through the vast corpus of Septuagint literature. Part 1 covers the textual history of the Septuagint, providing an in-depth analysis of its complex tradition, surveying the most important Greek witnesses and the earliest versions. Part 2 discusses the Alexandrian manuscript tradition, and covers the order and grouping of books, titles, comparison with the Hebrew Canon, and the textual divisions used in the manuscripts. Part 3 is concerned with the influence and use of the Septuagint in later works. An appendix contains the letter of pseudo-Aristeas with an introduction explaining the forgery. For over a century Swete's work has been an indispensable tool for every scholar and student of the Septuagint.