Henry Barclay Swete’s The Old Testament in Greek According to the Septuagint stands as one of the foundational critical editions of the Greek Old Testament. First published in 1887, Volume I inaugurates Swete’s three‑volume project with a meticulous presentation of the historical books from Genesis through IV Kingdoms (1–2 Samuel, 1–2 Kings).

Drawing primarily on Codex Vaticanus (B)—the most authoritative manuscript of the Greek Old Testament—Swete constructs a clean, readable text accompanied by a concise but carefully curated critical apparatus. His apparatus records significant variants from Codex Alexandrinus (A), Codex Sinaiticus (S), and other early witnesses, allowing scholars to trace the textual history of the Septuagint with clarity.