Bede : For you were like sheep gone astray. How is it that he calls both sheep and gone astray, when those who lead a life in error are rather called by the name of goats than sheep, unless because the Lord knows who are his, who also endures many living wrongly for a long time, who he nevertheless foresees to be saved in the number of his sheep? — Commentary on the Catholic Epistles Bede : But now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. He touches on the evangelical parable, where the pious Shepherd, having left ninety-nine sheep in the desert, came to visit the one that had gone astray. For what was said there, that having found it, he placed it on his shoulders rejoicing, this here the blessed Peter has stated beforehand, saying: Because he himself bore our sins in his body on the wood. Because indeed he wished to redeem us in such a way that the wood on which he would take away our sins, he had to hang upon, bearing it on his shoulders. Therefore, he says, to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Shepherd, namely, because he grants us the pastures of eternal life, he provides pastures of temporal grace in the present. Truly, overseer of your souls, because the Orient from on high has visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death (Luke 1). He visits daily the very light in us that he has granted, so that it does not fail by preserving, but rather grows by aiding. Certain Manuscripts have the very Greek: To the shepherd and bishop of your souls. However, bishop in Latin is said to mean "superintendent." Because indeed the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are towards their prayers, so that out of all their tribulations he may deliver them. (Psalms 34). — Commentary on the Catholic Epistles Hilary of Arles : Error has three causes—darkness, loneliness and ignorance. The Gentile sheep were wandering among idols because of their foolish ignorance, and they found themselves lost in the darkness of sin and in the loneliness of a strange nation. Peter goes on to add that now they have turned to the guardian [bishop] of their souls, because although there are many guardians around who care about the things of the flesh, there are few who can look deep into the soul and take care of it. — INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER