Bible Dictionaries
Bed

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. mittah), for rest at night (Exodus 8:3; 1 Samuel 19:13,15,16 , 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; Psalm 132:3 ), for sickness (Psalm 6:6; 41:3 ).

In the New Testament it denotes sometimes a litter with a coverlet (Matthew 9:2,6; 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 22:26,27; Deuteronomy 24:12,13 ).