Bed

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

In the New Testament it denotes sometimes a litter with a coverlet ( Matthew 9:2 Matthew 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 Samuel 19:13 . Sleeping in the open air was not uncommon, the sleeper wrapping himself in his outer garment ( Exodus 22:26 Exodus 22:27 ; Deuteronomy 24:12 Deuteronomy 24:13 ).