Bed (Heb. mittah), for rest at night (Exodus 8:3; 1 Samuel 19:13, 1 Samuel 1:19, 1 Samuel 1:19, etc.); during sickness (Genesis 47:31; Genesis 1:48; Genesis 1:49, 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; Psalms 1:41).
In the New Testament it denotes sometimes a litter with a coverlet (Matthew 9:2, Matthew 1:9; 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 1:22; Deuteronomy 24:12, Deuteronomy 1:24).