bridle of the mother, a figurative name for a chief city, as in 2 Samuel 8:1 , "David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines" (RSV, "took the bridle of the mother-city"); i.e., subdued their capital or strongest city, viz., Gath ( 1 Chronicles 18:1 ).
bridle of bondage
(bridle of the metropolis ), a place which David took from the Philistines, apparently in his last war with them. ( 2 Samuel 8:1 ) Ammah may be taken as meaning "mother-city" or "metropolis," comp. ( 2 Samuel 20:19 ) and Metheg-he-Ammah "the bridle of the mother-city" --viz. of Gath, the chief town of the Philistines.