And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Ver. 54. And when he was come into his own country] Which naturally draws our hearts to it by a kind of magnetic power and property. a Egypt was but a miserable home to Moses, and yet his heart hangs after it, while he lived in Midian; and therefore, in reference to it, he calls his eldest son Gershom, or a stranger there, to wit, where he now was, Exodus 2:22. Patriam quisque amat, non quia pulchram, sed quia suam, saith Seneca. Bishep Jewel, when he first began to preach, chose there first to break the bread of life where he first had breathed the breath of life.
Insomuch that they were astonished] It's a lamentable thing that men should hear, rejoice, and wonder at the word, and for matter of practice leave it where they found it. And yet what more ordinary? Men look round about a minister; and though they cannot but admire his doctrine, yet, if they can find ever a hole in his coat through which to slip out, as here, be it but the meanness of his birth, or the unsightliness of his person, or the letsomness of his delivery, &c., it is enough.
a Nescio qua natale solum dulcedine cunctos
Ducit, et immemores non sinit esse sui. Ovid.