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The Death of King David Two early versions constitute the source of the story about King David’s death : the first in the Babylonian Talmud and the second in the seventh century Ruth Rabbah . These versions relate how King David asks God to tell him how much longer he had to live and on what day he would die . God agrees to tell him only that he would die on the Sabbath . King David tries to delay his death by studying Torah every Sabbath because he knows that the Angel of Death cannot take the soul of someone engaged in Torah learning . However , when the designated Sabbath arrives , the Angel of Death succeeds in momentarily distracting David by employing various tactics such as causing the wind to rustle in the trees and placing an obstacle in his path . This strategy works ; David falls to the ground and the Angel of Death takes his life . In later versions , this story became the starting point for a religious law discussion about the permissibility of moving a body on the Sabbath...
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