Then answered the Jews unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? — the authorities resort to insult and accusation: they call Jesus a 'Samaritan' (perhaps meaning a heretic or schismatic) and claim he 'hast a devil' (is demon-possessed). The insults are attempts to silence him by discrediting him. The Samaritan epithet may suggest he is outside the true Israel; the demon-possession charge is the standard accusation against prophetic figures (cf. Mark 3:22). Jesus's relentless exposure of their sin and blindness drives them to personal attack.

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