Xusia,
r.e. a basic overview of Philosophy, I'd heartily recommend the excellent paperback book: "The History Of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell. It's £12-99 and is relatively easy to understand, compared to many books on the subject. Not only does it cover the history of philosophy, and their respective creators/thinkers, but also what each philosophy is meant to be about. It starts with stuff from Before Christ, and goes up to the 1980's and 1990's. So it pretty much covers everything in chronological order. However, if you simply wish to dip-in to certain subject areas or themes, then this is possible too, as the book's content list is divided into areas to make finding the relevant topic easy.
Most half-decent branches of Waterstones will have a copy of it in stock, or you can save a massive 65p, if you buy it from Amazon, and then wait for them to deliver it too you.
r.e. Bible Commentary, try "The Oxford Bible Commentary" by John Barton and John Muddiman. It's £25 for a paperback book, but it's darn good, from what I've seen in my local library's copy.
Hope they help you out.
Pooch