What did David do? Every Shabbat he would sit and learn all day long to protect himself from the Angel of Death. On that day on which the Angel of Death was supposed to put his soul to rest, the day on which David was supposed to die, the Angel of Death stood before him and was unable to overcome him because his mouth did not pause from study. The Angel of Death said: What should I do to him? David had a garden [bustana] behind his house; the Angel of Death came, climbed, and shook the trees. David went out to see. As he climbed the stair, the stair broke beneath him. He was startled and was silent, interrupted his studies for a moment, and died.
שלח שלמה לבי מדרשא: אבא מת ומוטל בחמה, וכלבים של בית אבא רעבים — מה אעשה? שלחו ליה: חתוך נבלה והנח לפני הכלבים. ואביך, הנח עליו ככר או תינוק וטלטלו. ולא יפה אמר שלמה: ״כי לכלב חי הוא טוב מן האריה המת״. ולענין שאילה דשאילנא קדמיכון: נר קרויה ״נר״, ונשמתו של אדם קרויה ״נר״. מוטב תכבה נר של בשר ודם מפני נרו של הקדוש ברוך הוא.
Since David died in the garden, Solomon sent the following question to the study hall: Father died and is lying in the sun, and the dogs of father’s house are hungry. There is room for concern lest the dogs come and harm his body. What should I do? They sent an answer to him: Cut up an animal carcass and place it before the dogs. Since the dogs are hungry, handling the animal carcass to feed them is permitted. And with regard to your father, it is prohibited to move his body directly. Place a loaf of bread or an infant on top of him, and you can move him into the shade due to the bread or the infant. And is it not appropriate what Solomon said: “For a living dog is better than a dead lion.” The ultimate conclusion of this discussion is that life is preferable to death. And now, with regard to the question that I asked before you; Rav Tanḥum spoke modestly, as, actually, they had asked him the question. A lamp is called ner and a person’s soul is also called ner, as it is written: “The spirit of man is the lamp [ner] of YHWH” (Proverbs 20:27). It is preferable that the lamp of a being of flesh and blood, an actual lamp, will be extinguished in favor of the lamp of God a person’s soul. Therefore, one is permitted to extinguish a flame for the sake of a sick person.