I have attempted to identify and account for echoes of biblical texts about marriage in the Fourth Gospel. First, I used Hays' criteria to discern and interpret four evoked texts. Two of them emerge at the beginning of John's narrative. John the Baptist's bridegroom saying in John 3:22–30 alludes to Jer. 33:10–11. When Jesus baptizes at Aenon near Salim, the bridegroom's voice is heard with rejoicing in the Judean countryside. Next, the story about Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4:4–42 is reminiscent of the story about Jacob and Rachel in Gen. 29:1–20. John uses the similarities to promote his own thematic agenda. The travelling stranger offers the water of eternal life to an apostate Samaritan. He then reveals his identity: he is the Messiah. The woman's ensuing report to her people becomes the testimony that leads to their belief.

The other two texts are evoked at the end of John's story. Song of Songs 1:12 is echoed when Mary of Bethany perfumes the reclining Jesus with nard in John 12:1–8. This allusion adds an ironic twist to the episode, as Mary's nard is not meant for the king's pleasure but rather for his burial. Finally, Mary Magdalene's search in John 20:1–18 follows the format of Song 3:1–4. Like other disciples, Mary looks for Jesus in the darkness of her own ignorance. She seeks a corpse, but then suddenly meets and eventually recognizes the risen and ascending Lord.