Hebrew word · H6210

עֶ֫רֶשׂ

'eres

bed

A couch, divan or bed: a piece of furniture for lying down on. It can be luxurious (Amos 6:4, 'couches of ivory'; Deut 3:11, Og's iron 'bed'), but it can also be the place where a sick person lies (Ps 41:3, 'his sickbed').

Appears 10 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

couch, divan, bed

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 6:6

Range of meaning

A couch, divan or bed: a piece of furniture for lying down on. It can be luxurious (Amos 6:4, 'couches of ivory'; Deut 3:11, Og's iron 'bed'), but it can also be the place where a sick person lies (Ps 41:3, 'his sickbed').

Against the English

'Couch' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT, NIV, ESV, NASB) is a fair old word, but today it suggests a living-room sofa. The Hebrew means a bed, where you sleep or lie ill.

How it drifted

English 'couch' once meant any bed or place of rest. In modern usage it has narrowed to the upholstered sitting sofa.

Used elsewhere in the period

Paired with miṭṭâ in Amos 3:12 and 6:4. Paired with miškāb ('bed') in Job 7:13: 'When I say, My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint', a close parallel where the sufferer finds no rest even lying down. Ps 41:3, 'The LORD sustains him on his sickbed (ʿereś dəwāy)'.

From the study of Amos 6:4

Range of meaning

A couch, divan or bed, often in a more poetic or elevated register than the everyday mittah. It can be used for a king's bedstead (Og's in Deuteronomy 3:11), a sickbed (Psalm 41:3), or a lovers' couch (Song of Songs 1:16).

Against the English

English versions consistently say "couches," which is reasonable. The word does not suggest the casual household sofa a modern reader might picture.

How it drifted

"Couch" now means an everyday living-room item, which may shrink the sense of status in the original.

Used elsewhere in the period

Paired with mittah in Amos 3:12 and Psalm 6:6 (verse 7 in Hebrew); a related word appears in Ugaritic, a language of ancient Syria, and in Aramaic. Assyrian art from the following century shows King Ashurbanipal reclining on a couch at a garden banquet.

From the study of Deuteronomy 3:11

Range of meaning

Bed, couch or divan. It is used for sickbeds (Ps 6:6 [Heb 6:7]; 41:3 [Heb 41:4]; Job 7:13), luxurious reclining couches of the rich (Amos 3:12; 6:4, 'beds of ivory'), the bed of lovers (Song 1:16; Prov 7:16) and a royal bed (Ps 132:3). In all of these it means a bed or couch. Nowhere else does it mean coffin. Cognates: Ugaritic ʿrš 'bed', Akkadian eršu 'bed', Aramaic ʿarsa.

Against the English

KJV 'bedstead', BSB/ESV 'bed', NASB 'bedstead'. Some modern notes and the supplied interlinear's contextual gloss suggest 'sarcophagus' or 'coffin', and the NLT and others note this possibility in footnotes.

How it drifted

The 'sarcophagus' reading started in the 19th and early 20th centuries (e.g. S. R. Driver's ICC commentary). It came from noticing the many basalt dolmens (stone tables made of upright slabs with a capstone) in Bashan and around Amman, and from the funerary sense of 'Rephaim'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the ancient Near East, couches were status objects. Assyrian palace reliefs show kings on elaborate couches, and Amarna-period gift lists record precious beds. Ugaritic ʿrš also appears in funerary and feasting contexts. The Esagila tablet from Babylon gives the dimensions of the great ritual bed of the god Marduk in the shrine on top of the ziggurat as 9 by 4 cubits, exactly the measurements here. Herodotus (Histories 1.181) also mentions a great couch in that shrine.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 3:11 עַרְשׂוֹ֙ עֶ֣רֶשׂ sarcophagus his, [was] a sarcophagus of

    (For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

    Here: 'His bed'. Everywhere else in the Bible this word means a bed or couch, often a fine one. Whether this one was a sleeping bed, a ceremonial couch or a burial bier is debated.

Job · 1

  1. Job 7:13 עַרְשִׂ֑י couch my

    When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 6:6 עַרְשִׂ֥י couch my

    I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.

    Here: 'My couch.' This is the poetic partner of miṭṭâ. It means a bed or raised couch for lying on, and Ps 41:3 uses it for a 'sickbed'. It is not a sitting-room sofa.

  2. Psalm 41:3 עֶ֣רֶשׂ a couch of

    The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.

    Here: A couch or bed for lying on. Here it is the place where a sick person lies helpless.

  3. Psalm 132:3 עֶ֥רֶשׂ [the] couch of

    “I will not enter my house or get into my bed,

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 7:16 עַרְשִׂ֑י couch my

    I have decked my bed with coverings, with colored linen from Egypt.

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 1:16 עַרְשֵׂ֖נוּ bed our

    How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed.

Amos · 2

  1. Amos 3:12 עָֽרֶשׂ׃ a couch

    This is what the LORD says: “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued having just the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.

  2. Amos 6:4 עַרְשׂוֹתָ֑ם couches their

    You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.

    Here: "Their couches," the poetic partner of "beds" in the previous line. It recalls Amos 3:12, where all that is left of Samaria's people is compared to a scrap of a couch rescued from a lion.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.