Bed: (Heb. mittah), for rest at night (Ex. 8:3; 1 Sam. 19:13, 15, 16,
etc.); during sickness (Gen. 47:31; 48:2; 49:33, etc.); as a
sofa for rest (1 Sam. 28:23; Amos 3:12). Another Hebrew word
(er'es) so rendered denotes a canopied bed, or a bed with
curtains (Deut. 3:11; Ps. 132:3), for sickness (Ps. 6:6; 41:3).
In the New Testament it denotes sometimes a litter with a
coverlet (Matt. 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 Sam. 19:13.
Sleeping in the open air was not uncommon, the sleeper wrapping
himself in his outer garment (Ex. 22:26,27; Deut. 24:12,13).