Jesus said this to challenge them. He wanted them to acknowledge that it is lawful to heal people on the Sabbath. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])
These two phrases are similar in meaning, except that the second is more extreme. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])
# to save a life, or to kill
It may be helpful to repeat "is it lawful," as that is the question Jesus is asking again in another way. AT: "is it lawful to save a life or to kill" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-ellipsis]])
# a life
This refers to physical life and is a metonym for a person. AT: "someone from dying" or "someone's life" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])