Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 7:1

"And after these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judaea, because the Jews sought to kill him." — John 7:1 (ASV)

Although the writer evidently knew of Jesus’ later Galilean ministry, he chose not to record it. He shows that Jesus did not return to Judea at once after the feeding of the multitude, because his life would be in danger. Ever since the healing of the paralytic in Jerusalem, his opponents had been attempting to kill him (5:18); and as time progressed, their hatred increased (7:19, 30, 32, 44; 8:59; 10:39; 11:8, 53) until they finally accomplished his death. From this point the opposition to Jesus becomes increasingly prominent in this gospel.