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Bible Dictionaries
Bed
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or In the East, is, and was anciently, a divan, or broad low step around the sides of a room, like a sofa, which answered to purpose of a sofa by day for reclining, and of a bed by night for sleeping, Exodus 8:3 2 Samuel 4:5-7 . Sometimes it was raised several steps above the floor, 2 Kings 1:4 Psalm 132:4 . It was covered very differently, and with more or less ornament, according to the rank of owner of the house. The poor had but a simple mattress or sheepskin; or a cloak or blanked, which also answered to wrap themselves in by day, Exodus 22:2 Deuteronomy 24:13 . Hence it was easy for the persons whom Jesus healed, to take up their beads and walk, Mark 4:21 . Bedsteads, however, were not unknown, though unlike those of modern times. See Deuteronomy 3:11 1 Samuel 19:15 Amos 6:4 . The Jews only laid off their sandals and outer garments at night.
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Bed'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/b/bed.html. 1859.
