Abstract:
This article is a response to an article of Van der Watt titled
‘Intertextuality and over-interpretation: References to Genesis 28:12 in John 1:51?’ (2016). He
states in this article that his aim is ‘to illustrate the dangers of over-interpretation when dealing
with intertextual relations between texts, especially when allusion is assumed’. He then gives
a brief survey of different interpretations of John 1:51. Van der Watt shows in his article how
theologians use themes from Genesis 28:12 (like the ladder, Jacob or Bethel, which are not
mentioned in John 1:51) in their expositions of John 1:51. Van der Watt regards some of these
expositions as examples of over-interpretation. The aim of my article is to show how Church
Fathers interpreted Genesis 28:12 and John 1:51. I show in my article that the Church Fathers
saw several parallels between these two sections from the Bible. Furthermore, I suggest that
the early theologians’ interpretations formed a tradition that probably influenced modern
interpreters of the Bible. I also discuss the role of typology in the history of interpretation,
specifically also in the case of Genesis 28:12 and John 1:51. I then argue that it is perhaps not so
far-fetched to see an intertextual relation between Genesis 28:12 and John 1:51.
