At the crux of the intersection of theological and anthropological mandates that set the parameters for the figure of Mary lies the story of Abraham and the dedication of his son to God. The story tells of his willingness to offer one of his children up for sacrifice at the divine command, and the aversion of that sacrifice by divine intervention. Each of the three monotheisms gives this story a strong reading, and for each it provides the matrix in which religious mandates are developed and understood – not least with respect to sacrifice and to the role in it of father, mothers, and sons.

As a host of readers from Kierkegaard to Auerbach have testified, the story of Abraham's journey to the altar on Mount Moriah in Genesis is one of the most powerful in world literature, as much for its pregnant silences as for its explicit meanings.