Does "～の違いだけで" mean "the only difference"?

Question

尽きる場所が、家か７階かの違いだけで、確実にどちらかで死ぬ。

First, if there wasn't the の違いだけで I would understand the sentence but there is also this 尽きる場所が which seems to be redundant because of 尽きる場所が. I used the Google Translator and it translated as "the only difference is whether it ends in my house or on the 7th floor". So it seems the translator is omitting the possible redundance between 死ぬ and 尽きる場所が and translating の違いだけで as "the only difference". After spending some minutes thinking about it, it makes sense. I wanted to confirm here the meaning of 違いだけで and clarify the relationship between 尽きる場所が and 死ぬ, whether it's a redundance or there is an implicit meaning in it. Also, does the particle で in 違いだけで and どちらかで refers both to the place where the person would die?

Answer 1

The first で (after だけ) is the te-form of だ (= is...and...), and the second で (after どちらか) is a location marker (= in/at/on). This 尽きる is one of the indirect ways of saying 死ぬ.

• ～だけだ。
  It's merely a ～.
• ～の違いだけだ。
  It's merely a difference of ～.
• [尽きる場所が、家か７階か]の違いだけだ。
  It's merely a difference of [whether the place where it (=his life) ends is the house or the 7th floor].
  ^{([] indicates an embedded question (a noun clause).)}
• 尽きる場所が、家か７階かの違いだけで、確実にどちらかで死ぬ。
  It's only a matter of whether he dies in his house or on the 7th floor; he will certainly die in either of the two places.