Abstract:
The present article examines the use of κρούω in Q 11:9 against the backdrop of documentary
papyri and Greek literary texts that employ the verb to evoke a stock scene of aggression and
threat at the door of a house. In the unit 11:2–4, 9–13 the Sayings Gospel employs the same
language and gestures in a similar rhetorical situation to advance a complex and ambiguous
representation of human agency in prayer, which is not conceived as a mere passive expectancy
of God’s intervention. This representation fits the socio-cultural profile of village scribes as the
authors of Q, given their familiarity with administrative terminology and their acquaintance
with widespread and simple rhetorical tropes. Moreover, such an ambiguous stance towards
human agency is mirrored in Q’s similarly complex understanding of human participation
in the establishment of God’s βασιλεία. Finally, comparable thematic and linguistic features
have been detected in the ‘parable of the friend at midnight’ (Lk 11:5–8), strengthening the
hypothesis that the parable might have been part of the Sayings Gospel.
