In God’s Image and Likeness 3
The Family of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar
By Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Thompson, and Matthew L. Bowen
Published by The Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books
Available December, 2025
This book tells the story of the family of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar—a story that recounts the inspiring and heart-rending experiences of these individuals and their encounters with God and His messengers in breathtaking intimacy. Abraham’s yearning to enter a covenant relationship with God and the lengths he went to in his demonstration of lifelong faithfulness to that relationship inspire awe in every serious disciple. And yet, as Hugh Nibley pointed out, this superman was an everyman. Abraham’s life fascinates us precisely because the degree of unwavering focus required to bring about the near perfection of a common man is so uncommon. We admire Abraham because his supreme feats were spiritual in nature. They were neither demonstrations of Herculean physical prowess nor a triumph over global political powers but rather were quiet results of inner goodness and generosity—gifts that are within our reach if we are wise and good enough to follow the example of our Father Abraham—and his equally exemplary companions, Sarah and Hagar.
This volume contains the most comprehensive and detailed Latter-day Saint commentary ever published on the beautiful and doctrinally rich chapters of Genesis 12–22 and the Book of Abraham. The commentary combines prophetic insights, excerpts from the Joseph Smith Translation, ancient texts, and up-to-date biblical scholarship—all presented from a perspective of faith. Each section of the book is prefaced by an overview illuminating major themes and issues. This is followed by the text of each chapter of scripture, accompanied by a detailed phrase-by-phrase commentary designed to give the modern reader both an understanding of the plain sense of the words as well as their significance in context. Significant textual variants from the Joseph Smith Translation are identified and discussed.
Of special interest to Latter-day Saint readers is the light that these chapters shed on temple worship. A detailed study of this book of scripture in conjunction with ancient and modern sources suggests striking parallels with temple themes. Insights on these topics from Latter-day Saint scripture and prophets, as well as relevant extracts from the works of Hugh Nibley and other religious scholars, historians, philosophers, literary specialists, playwrights, musicians, and artists are found on nearly every page of the book. The book also features an extensive information, maps, and photographs pertaining to the ancient and modern geographical settings of the story. An additional highlight is the collection of more than a hundred carefully chosen color figures, photographs, and illustrations relating to the text — themselves also the subject of detailed commentary.
About the Authors
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw (PhD, Cognitive Science, University of Washington) is a Senior Research Scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Pensacola, Florida (www.ihmc.us/groups/jbradshaw. His professional writings have explored a wide range of topics in human and machine intelligence (www.jeffreymbradshaw.net). Jeff has been the recipient of several awards and patents and has been an adviser for initiatives in science, defense, space, industry, and academia worldwide. Jeff has written detailed commentaries on the Book of Moses, Genesis, and on temple themes in the scriptures. For Church-related publications, see www.TempleThemes.net.
Jeff was a missionary in France and Belgium from 1975 to 1977, and his family has returned twice to live in France. He and his wife, Kathleen, are the parents of four children and sixteen grandchildren. From July 2016-September 2019, Jeff and Kathleen served missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa Mission office and the DR Congo Kinshasa Temple. They currently live in Nampa, Idaho. As a church service missionary for the Church History Department, Jeff is writing histories of temples in in the DR Congo and the Republic of the Congo. For The Interpreter Foundation he is is working to document the history of the Church in Africa on film (www.NotByBreadAloneFilm.com).
John S. Thompson obtained his BA and MA in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Hebrew Bible) from BYU and UC Berkeley respectively and completed a PhD in Egyptology at the University of Pennsylvania, with a dissertation emphasis on ancient priesthood. He was an employee of the Seminaries & Institutes of Religion for 28 years, most recently as a Coordinator and the Institute Director in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, area. John is now very happy to research and write full time for Scripture Central, a nonprofit organization that focuses on ancient and modern historical-cultural contexts of the Bible, Book of Mormon, and other Latter-day Saint scripture. He is married to Stacey Keller from Orem, Utah, and they have nine children and six grandchildren.
Matthew L. Bowen was raised in Orem, Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young University. He holds a PhD in Biblical Studies from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and is currently an associate professor in religious education at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. He is also the author of Name as Key-Word: Collected Essays on Onomastic Wordplay and the Temple in Mormon Scripture (Salt Lake City: Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2018) and Ancient Names in the Book of Mormon: Toward a Deeper Understanding of a Witness of Christ (Salt Lake City: Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2023). With Aaron P. Schade, he is the coauthor of The Book of Moses: From the Ancient of Days to the Latter Days (Provo, UT; Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book, 2021). He and his wife (the former Suzanne Blattberg) are the parents of three children: Zachariah, Nathan, and Adele.
