John 10:20 (GNV)

Passage

And many of them sayd, He hath a deuill, and is mad: why heare ye him?

Nearby Context

John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it downe of my selfe: I haue power to lay it downe, and haue power to take it againe: this commandement haue I receiued of my Father.

John 10:19 Then there was a dissension againe among the Iewes for these sayings,

John 10:20 And many of them sayd, He hath a deuill, and is mad: why heare ye him?

John 10:21 Other sayd, These are not the wordes of him that hath a deuill: can the deuill open the eyes of the blinde?

John 10:22 And it was at Hierusalem the feast of the Dedication, and it was winter.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sayd", "hath", "deuill", and "heare". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sayd" and "hath", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "Then there was a dissension againe among..." into verse 21's "Other sayd These are not the wordes...", so "sayd" and "hath" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sayd" and "hath" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.