The New English Bible has benefited not only from advances in the understanding of ancient languages and discoveries of new manuscripts and methods, but also from the recent growth in knowledge of the social and political history of the biblical period and the development of new ways of evaluating prehistory.

In "Understanding the Old Testament" the essentials of the background and context of the Old Testament and Apocrypha are set out as concisely as possible to enable the reader to understand the meaning and significance of much that can only be appreciated fully with the help of this...