They expected Jesus to come. Gill says "all expected him at the feast, knowing it was always his custom" to attend. But they did not all look for Him for the same reason. Gill says some sought Him "to take him and kill him, and others to hear his doctrine, and see his miracles." Matthew Henry offers two possibilities: the common people "longed to see him there, that they might have their curiosity gratified," or "perhaps it was his enemies that were thus waiting an opportunity to seize him." Henry also hears scorn in the words, which he renders "where is that fellow?" The Jews had already been seeking to kill Him (John 5:18; 7:1).

No one tells them where He is. Instead the crowd buzzes: "some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people" (John 7:12). Yet "no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews" (John 7:13). Jesus answers the question Himself by appearing: "about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught" (John 7:14).

The feast of tabernacles fell in the seventh month and lasted seven days, when Israelites were to "dwell in booths" (Leviticus 23:34, 42).

In Greek the question is pou estin ekeinos, literally "Where is that one?" Matthew Henry hears it as scornful: "where is that fellow?"

The fear in John 7:13 was real. Gill offers several possible fears, such as being mobbed, prosecuted, or "turned out of the synagogue," which John later records as an agreed penalty for confessing Jesus as Christ (John 9:22). Barnes notes that Jesus' friends "had not confidence to speak of him openly."

Behind this question is a larger one that runs through John 7: who is He? The crowd is divided (John 7:12, 31, 40-43), and the Pharisees and chief priests send officers to take Him (John 7:32). In the middle of it all, Jesus moves on His own schedule, not on the crowd's expectations or His brothers' advice. His brothers urged, "shew thyself to the world" (John 7:4), but He said, "my time is not yet full come" (John 7:8). Later John explains why no one could seize Him: "his hour was not yet come" (John 7:30).

The same scene repeats before His last Passover, when people ask, "What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?" (John 11:56). People kept looking for Jesus, but He came in His own time, and when it came He said, "The hour is come" (John 12:23).