Thou wilt take away his life, for he is thy creation; and thou wilt make him live, for he is thy work: In spite of the fact that the phrase make him live is mentioned here after take away his life, it does not appear to be a reference to the resurrection. This verse simply states that it is within God’s power to let a person live or die. Each person is God’s creation, and he can do with anyone as he wishes. The two clauses he is thy creation and he is thy work have exactly the same meaning, so they may be combined (so Good News Bible). A model of this verse that does is:

• Every human being is your creation, so you can let him live or die.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.