The author places the work within the oratorio tradition, bearing in mind its intended early audiences in both Austria and England, and he contrasts the theological and literary character of the English libretto with the Viennese milieu of the first performances.

The complete text is provided in both English and German versions as a reference point for discussion of the design of the work and the musical treatment of the words, including questions of Haydn's pictorialism. A more detailed musical chapter examines the work through the movement types it employs -- arias and ensembles, recitatives and choruses -- distinguishing the Handelian model from Haydn's own classical idiom.

Nicholas Temperley also discusses the changing performance traditions of this work and surveys the critical reception throughout its history. In a useful appendix he quotes from the most significant critical literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.