You killed the AUTHOR of life

[TonyChanYT]

NIV Acts 3:

15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

What is the meaning of the author of life? How can the author of life be killed? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

King James Bible:

And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

Ellicott explained:

And killed the Prince of life.—The word translated “Prince” is applied to Christ here and in Acts 5:31. In Hebrews 2:10 we meet with it in “the Captain of their salvation;” in Hebrews 12:2, in “the Author and Finisher of our faith.” Its primary meaning, like that of prince (princeps), is one who takes the lead—who is the originator of that to which the title is attached. The “Prince of life,” the “Captain of salvation,” is accordingly He who is the source from which life and salvation flow. In the LXX. of the Old Testament it is used for the “chieftains” or “princes” of Moab and the like (Numbers 13:3; Numbers 24:17).

NIV used "You killed the author of life" paradoxically to illustrate the point: You could kill Jesus, but he didn't stay dead :)