Bed

The bed of the Hebrews did not difler in essential respects from that of otlier Oriental peoples. It consisted of a mat and quUt to lie upon, and a covering or coverlet. ' For tlie bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on it ; and tlie covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it' (Is 28-'°). The adjuncts were the pillow and the bedstead and its ornaments.

Amongst all classes the custom was to sleep in the day-clothes without any material change of garments ; sheets were therefore superfluous. In Its simplest form the bed consisted only of the day- clothes and the outer garment or cloak. ' If tliou at all take thy neighbour's garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it to him by that the sun goeth down : for that is his only covering ; it is his garment for his skin : wherein shall he sleep?' (E.\ "22-'').

The ordinary bedding used througliout the East at the present day is probably similar in character to that which has been in use for centuries, and con- sists of (1) a mat of rushes or straw ; (2) skins, or a cloak or a quilt stuti'cd with dry herbs, hair, or vegetable libre to lie upon ; (3) a covering of light stuir in sunmier, or of skins or quilted stuH' in winter. The bedding is rolled up (Pr 22-'') in the morning, and, after being aired in the sun, is put away in a chamber or closet.

Many of these beds are kept in a house, and, wlien the inmates are few, they are sometimes stacked one on another and form a temporary bedstead. There is little dill'er- ence between the bed for sleeping on and the divan or couch for resting on during the day. The bed is essentially an article tliat can be moved about readily from place to place. ' Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him (1 S 19'=). ' Beliold, men bring on abed a man that was palsied' (LkS""^).

There is usually some portion of the house set apart as a room where the whole family m.ay sleep. ' My children are with me in bed, I cannot rise and give tliee ' (Lk 11''"). Among the very poorest a portion of the floor is set apart, and this is often somewhat raised up above the surrounding flocr so as to serve as a bedstead. Wlien there are two ■toreys, the beds are on the upper floor, and during the summer time they are usually on the flat roof.

Thus references are constantly made to going up to bed, w^ich may indicate either a bed raised up on a bedstead, or situated in an upper chamber, or on the roof (Gn 49^). ' Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up' (2 K 1*) ; ' nor go up into my bed ' (Ps 13^ ; cf. 1 S 28^). The bed is usually placed near the wall of the chamber, and there are indications that it was placed alongside the wall. ' Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord' (2 K 20^).

The bed used by watchmen, both when in the fields watching for marauders and when acting as doorkeepers, is of the simplest form, and requires no description : ' A booth in a \-ineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers' (Is I*. See CUCUMBER). In accordance with the wealth of the house or family, the bed is enriched and embroidered. This is so also among the Bedawin and dwellers in tents.

' I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, with striped cloths of the yam of Egypt ; I nave perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon' (Pr 7"-"); 'the couches were of gold and silver' (Est !•). Pillows and cushions are the nsnal adjuncts of beds in the East at the present day, and it may be assumed that they were as generally used in early days in Palestine as they were among the Greeks after the Homeric age.

A piece of stone such as that used by Jacob (Gn 28") at Bethel would be naturally accepted as a pUlow by a native of Palestine on the line of march at the present day. The quilt or pillow of goats' hair placed by Michal (I S 19") in David's bed, though only a makeshift hastily put together, indicates the use of pillows at that time. Those mentioned Ezk 13'* do not necessarily appear to be bed pillows.

Pillows at the present day are usually made of the same stutf as the bedding, but more profusely ornamented and embossed, and in wealthy houses covered ^nth satin, silk, and embroidery. ' The silken cushions of a bed' (Am 3"). Sometimes the finest linen is lightly tacked on the embroidery, probably to protect the face from the roughness of the work.

Among the poorer classes, bedsteads, when used, were probably light portable frames for keeping the bedding ofl" the ground, and for carrying sick persons, as on a litter. Although there is no direct aUnsion to a bedstead except perhaps that of Og, king of Bashan, there are several references which indicate that beds were raised above the floor. In the passage relating to Jacob's 'bed of sickness' (Gn 47"), the 'bed's head ' is referred to. See also 1 S 19", 2 S 3", Lk S'"*.

In whatever sense the pa.ssage referring to Og, ' behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron ' (Dt3"), is to be understood, the hard black basalt so common in Bashan is probablj' referred to. There are numerous indications that in the houses of the wealthy, and in the palaces, there were bedsteads highly ornamented, and that the richness and magniliccnce of the beds and bed- steads among the Asiatics was at least eijual to that which obtained among the Greeks and Romans.

The bedsteads in the most wealthy houses were of costly kinds of wood, veneered with tortoise-shell and ivory, and ornamented with gold and silver. The couches of 'gold and silver' (Est 1') probably included the bedst<;ad. The same may be said of the ' beds of ivory ' (Am 6* 3"). The ten beds with feet of silver, and the furniture be- longing to them, senttoEleazarthehi^;!! priest (Joa. AtU. XII. ii. 15), evidently included the lied.stea<ls.

The ornaments of the bedstead inehuled the canopy and pillars. ' King Solomon made himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon, lie made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of <old, the seat of it of purple ' (Ca 3'»).

' There were hangings of white cloth, of green, and of blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble ; the couches were of gold and silver upon a pavement of porphyry and white marble, and alabaster and stone of lilua colour' (Est 1'). 'Now Holofernes rested upon his bed under a canopy, which was of purple, and gold, and emeralds, and precious stones inwoven' (Jth 10"). C. Wakken. BEDCHAMBER See HousB.