Bec'tileth, the plain of (t6 irecioi' BaiicrikaiQ v. r. B{K7-£\s0 = Heb. T.b^p rP3, house of slaughter), mentioned in Judith ii, 21, as lying between Nineveh and Cilicia. The name has been compared with Bac- tae.lla (BtncraiaA.X//), a town of Syria named by Ptole- my (lxix, 35) as situated in Castiotis (v, 15) ; Bactlali in the Peutinger Tables, which place it 21 miles from Antioch (comp. the /tin. Antonin.). The most impor- tant plain in this direction is the Bekaa, or valley lying between the two chains of Lebanon ; and it is possible that Bectileth is a corruption of that well-known name, if, indeed, it be a historical name at all. See Mannert, All. Geog. VI, i, 450.— Smith, s. v.
Bed, properly ftBO, mittah' ', kXivt], either for rest at night, Exod. viii, 3 ; 1 Sam. xix, 13, 15, 16 ; 1 Kings xvii, 19 ; 2 Kings iv. 10, 21 ; xi, 2 ; 2 Chron. xxii, 11 ; Psa. vi, 6; Prov. xxvi, 14; Mark iv, 21 ; Luke viii, 16; xvii, 34; or during illness, Gen. xlvii, 81; xlviii, 2; xlix, 33; 1 Sam. xxviii, 23; 2 Kings i, 4, 6, 16; iv, 32 ; Mark vii, 30 ; Rev. ii, 22 ; often simply a sofa for ease and quiet, 1 Sam. xxviii, 23 ; Esther vii, 8 ; Amos iii, 12 ; vi, 4 ; once a sedan for pleasure, Cant. iii, 7 ; in the New Test, frequently a mere couch, con- sisting of a litter and coverlet, Matt, ix, 2, 6 ; Luke v, 18; Acts v, 15 (for which more properly the dimin- utive kXivijSiov, "couch," Luke v, 19, 24; or /cpo/3- /3«-or, frequently occurring, usually "bed," once " couch," Acts v, 15 ; and once in the sense of a more permanent sick-bed. Acts ix, 33) ; used also for bier for dead bodies, 2 Sam. iii, 31 ; and specially of the triclinium, or dinner-lied, Esther i, 6; Ezek. xxiii, 41; "table," Mark vii, 4. Another term of frequent oc- currence is 3312373, mishkab', koitj], which almost al- ways has the signification of marriage-bed, or some analogous idea (except in the Chaldee equivalent, n^'d'S of Dan.), and is often translated by terms ex- pressive of that sense. To these may be added the poetic SS1S*1, yntsu'a, Job xvii, 13; Psa. lxiii, 6; exxxii, 3 ; signifying the same as the preceding in Gen. xlix, 4; 1 Chron. v, 1 ; and " chamber" in prose, 1 Kings vi, 5, 6, 10; also SSB, matstsa' ', Isa. xxviii. 20 ; and, finally, ;C~*:", < r'es, signifying, as the deriva- tion shows, a canopied bed of more imposing style, for whatever purpose, Job vii, 13; Psa. xli, 3; exxxii, 3 (in the original) ; Prov. vii, 16; Cant, i, 16; "couch" in Psa. vi, 6 ; Amos iii, 12 ; vi, 4 ; and properly rendered " bedstead'' in Deut. iii, 11. In this last-named passage a coffin is thought by some to be meant. See Giant.
"We may distinguish in the Jewish bed the follow- ing principal parts : 1. The bedstead was not always necessary, the divan, or platform along the side or end
BED AD 716
of an Oriental room, sufficing as a support for the bed- ding. See Bedchambeb. Yet some slight and port- al. 1.- frame Beema implied among the senses of the word ---.mitta/i', which is used for a " bier" (2 Sam. iii, 31 ). and for the ordinary bed (2 Kings iv, 10), for the litter on which a sick person might be earned (1 Sam. xix. 15), for Jacob's bed of sickness (Gen. xlvii. : 1 ). and for the couch on which guests reclined at a banquet (Esth. i, 6). See Couch. Thus it seems the comprehensive and generic term. The proper word for a bedstead appears to be C"", e'res, used Deut. iii, 11, to describe that on which lay the giant ()_'. whose vast bulk and weight required one of iron. See Bedstead. 2. The substratum or bottom portion of the bed itself was limited to a mere mat, or one or more quilts. 3. Over this a quilt finer than those used for the under part of the bed. In summer, a thin blanket, or the outer garment worn by day (1 Sam. xix. 13), sufficed. This latter, in the case of a poor prison, often formed the entire bedding, and that with- out a bedstead. Hence the law provided that it should not be kept in pledge after sunset, that the poor man might not lack his needful covering (Deut. xxiv, 13). 4. The bed-clothes. The only material mentioned for this is that which occurs 1 Sam. xix, 13, and the word used is of doubtful meaning, but seems to signify some fabric woven or plaited of goat's hair. It is clear, however, that it was something hastily adopted to serve as a pillow, and is not decisive of the ordinary use. 5. In Ezra xiii, 18, occurs the word rp2, he' ' seth (Sept. -no<TKi<pd\atoi>), which seems to be the proper term. Such pillows are common to this day in the E ist, formed of sheep's fleece or goat's skin, with a stuffing of cotton, etc. We read of a "pillow," f.lso, in the boat in which our Lord lay asleep (Mark iv, 38) as he crossed the lake. The block of stone, such as Jacob used, covered, perhaps, with a garment, was not unusual among the poorer folk, shepherds, etc. See T'ili.i i\v. 6. The ornamental portions, and those which luxury added, were pillars and a canopy (Judith xiii, 9); ivory carvings, gold and silver (Joseph. Ant. xii, 21, 14), and probably mosaic work, purple and fine linen, are also mentioned as constituting parts of beds (Esth. i. G; Cant, iii, 9, 10), where the word "P'1",?>f;, appiryon' (Sept. (popelov), seems to mean " a litter"' (Prov. vii, 16, 17 ; Amos xi, 4). So also are perfumes. — Smith, s. v. See SLEEP.