A.T. Robertson Commentary John 7:20

"The multitude answered, Thou hast a demon: who seeketh to kill thee?" — John 7:20 (ASV)

The multitude (ο οχλος). Outside of Jerusalem (the Galilean crowd as in verses 11f.) and so unfamiliar with the effort to kill Jesus recorded in 5:18. It is important in this chapter to distinguish clearly the several groups like the Jewish leaders (7:13,15,25,26,30,32, etc.), the multitude from Galilee and elsewhere (10-13,20,31,40,49), the common people of Jerusalem (25), the Roman soldiers (45f.).

Thou hast a devil (δαιμονιον εχεις). "Demon," of course, as always in the Gospels. These pilgrims make the same charge against Jesus made long ago by the Pharisees in Jerusalem in explanation of the difference between John and Jesus (Matthew 11:18; Luke 7:33). It is an easy way to make a fling like that. "He is a monomaniac labouring under a hallucination that people wish to kill him" (Dods).