2 Samuel 8:1

Subdued them. — In its connection this implies not merely the victory of a single battle, but the reversal of the former relation of the Philistines to Israel, and their reduction to a condition of inferiority and tribute.

Took Metheg-ammah. — No place of this name is known. The first word means bridle, and the other is probably, although not certainly, a derivation from the word mother, and has the sense metropolis. The translation will then be, took the bridle (i.e., the key) of the metropolis, and this seems sustained by the parallel phrase in 1 Chronicles 18:1, “took Gath and her towns (lit daughters).” Gath appears to have been already the principal among the five Philistine cities (1 Samuel 27:2), and with the rest of the country remained tributary to Solomon (1 Kings 4:21; 1 Kings 4:24).