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THE DICTIONARY — Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

(Hebrews 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).

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