BED

(Heb. mittah), for rest at night (Exo 8:3; 1-Sam 19:13, 1-Sam 19: 15, 16, etc.); during sickness (Gen. 47:31;48:2;49:33, 49: etc.); as a sofa for rest (1-Sam 28:23; Amos 3:12). Another Hebrew word (er'es) so rendered denotes a canopied bed, or a bed with curtains (Deut. 3:11; Psa 132:3), for sickness (Psa 6:6;41:3).

In the New Testament it denotes sometimes a litter with a coverlet (Matt. 9:2, Matt. 9: 6; Luke 5:18; Acts 5:15).

The Jewish bedstead was frequently merely the divan or platform along the sides of the house, sometimes a very slight portable frame, sometimes only a mat or one or more quilts. The only material for bed-clothes is mentioned in 1-Sam 19:13. Sleeping in the open air was not uncommon, the sleeper wrapping himself in his outer garment (Exo 22:26, Exo 22:27; Deut. 24:12, Deut. 24:13).