And they were scattered because there is no shepherd,.... No good one; there were shepherds, but they were idol shepherds, good for nothing, and it was all one as if there were none: so, in Christ's time, there were the Scribes and Pharisees; yet, since these did not feed the people with wholesome doctrine, they are said to be as sheep without a shepherd, and scattered abroad, as here from the fold, and from one another; dispersed here and there, seeking food, and none, which moved his compassion, Matthew 9:36, in the political sense it may refer to their captivity, and their dispersion among the nations, having no king: So the Targum,
"and they were scattered without a governor.''
And they became meat to all beasts of the field when they were scattered; the Targum is,
"and they were delivered to all the kingdoms of the people to be consumed;''
such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Ammonites, Moabites, and others; and may be applied to false teachers, those grievous wolves, which spare not the flock, into whose hands members of churches, professors of religion, fall, when neglected by their shepherds.