{The multitude} (ho ochlos). 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} (daimonion echeis). "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 ( Mt 11:18  Lu 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).