Twins in the Bible: God's View on Boys
The Bible mentions twins in several contexts, most notably Jacob and Esau, and also refers to Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, as a twin [3]. The term "Thomas" itself means "twin" [1], and he was also known by the Greek equivalent, Didymus, which also means "twin" or "double" [3, 4].
The most prominent biblical narrative involving twins is that of Jacob and Esau, sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Their story begins before their birth, when they struggled within Rebekah's womb, prompting her to inquire of the Lord [14]. God's response indicated that two nations were within her, and that the elder would serve the younger [14]. This divine pronouncement highlighted a significant difference between the twins even before they were born, a difference that was not based on their works but on God's choosing [12]. Augustine of Hippo, a prominent Church Father, discussed Jacob and Esau extensively, noting their distinct characters and actions [10]. He emphasized that both were born "children of wrath" due to original sin, but God's undeserved grace loved Jacob, while His deserved judgment hated Esau [7]. Augustine also used the case of twins, one baptized and one not, to argue against Pelagian views on free will and predestination, asserting that God's foreknowledge and grace are not dependent on future works [11].
Another instance where twins are suggested is with Cain and Abel. While the Bible does not explicitly state they were twins, some commentators, like Matthew Henry, propose they might have been, drawing a parallel to Esau and Jacob where the elder hated the younger [8]. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown also suggest Cain and Abel were "probably twins," noting that at this early period, children might have been born in pairs [9].
In Jewish tradition, the birth of twins could affect ritual purity laws. For example, if a woman gives birth to a boy and a girl, the laws of impurity follow those for the birth of a female, meaning a longer period of impurity [13]. This indicates a specific legal consideration for twin births in rabbinic thought.
The Bible also uses the phrase "sons of God" in various ways. In Genesis 6:2, 4, it refers to the pious descendants of Seth. In Job 1:6 and 38:7, it is applied to angels. Hosea uses it to describe humanity's gracious relationship with God (1:10). In the New Testament, "sons of God" frequently denotes the adoptive relationship believers have with God [6]. God is depicted as looking down from heaven upon the "sons of men" to see if any seek Him or understand [2, 5]. This broader concept of "sons" or "boys" in the Bible highlights God's active observation and engagement with humanity.
Sources
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Thomas — a twin”
- Psalms “Psalms 14:2 (BSB) — The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Thomas — Twin, one of the twelve (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18, etc.). He was also called Didymus (John 11:16; 20:24), which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name. All we know regarding him is recorded in the fourth Gospel (John 11:15, 16; 14:4, 5; 20:24, 25, 26-29). From the circumstance that in the lists of the apostles he is always mentioned along with Matthew, who was the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18), and that these two are always followed by James, who was also the son of Alphaeus, it has been supposed that these three, Matthew, Thomas, and James, were brothers.”
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Didymus — a twin; double”
- Psalms “Psalms 53:2 (YLT) — God from the heavens looked on the sons of men, To see if there be an understanding one, <FI>One<Fi> seeking God.”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Son of God — The plural, "sons of God," is used (Gen. 6:2, 4) to denote the pious descendants of Seth. In Job 1:6; 38:7 this name is applied to the angels. Hosea uses the phrase (1:10) to designate the gracious relation in which men stand to God. In the New Testament this phrase frequently denotes the relation into which we are brought to God by adoption (Rom. 8:14, 19; 2 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 4:5, 6; Phil. 2:15; 1 John 3:1, 2). It occurs thirty-seven times in the New Testament as the distinctive title of our Saviour. He does not bear this title in consequence of his mirac”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 3: Augustine — On the Holy Trinity — CHAP. 98.--PREDESTINATION TO ETERNAL LIFE IS WHOLLY OF GOD'S FREE GRACE. (part 2): that showeth mercy."(7) Thus both the twins were born children of wrath, not on account of any works of their own, but because they were bound in the fetters of that original condemnation which came through Adam. But He who said, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy," loved Jacob of His undeserved grace, and hated Esau of His deserved judgment. And as this judgment was due to both, the former learnt from the case of the latter that the fact of the same punis”
- Genesis (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:1: Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters, Gen 5:4. But Cain and Abel seem to have been the two eldest. Some think they were twins, and, as Esau and Jacob, the elder hated and the younger loved. Though God had cast our first parents out of paradise, he did not write them childless; but, to show that he had other blessings in store for them, he preserved to them the benefit of that first blessing of increase. Though they were sinners, nay, though they felt the humiliation and sorrow of penitents, they did not write themselves comfortless, having the promise of a Sav”
- Genesis (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Genesis 4 (introduction): BIRTH OF CAIN AND ABEL. (Gen. 4:1-26) Eve said, I have gotten a man from the Lord--that is, "by the help of the Lord"--an expression of pious gratitude--and she called him Cain, that is, "a possession," as if valued above everything else; while the arrival of another son reminding Eve of the misery she had entailed on her offspring, led to the name Abel, that is, either weakness, vanity (Psa 39:5), or grief, lamentation. Cain and Abel were probably twins; and it is thought that, at this early period, children were born in pairs (Gen 5:4)”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 4.--CONCERNING THE TWINS ESAU AND JACOB, WHO WERE VERY UNLIKE EACH OTHER. BOTH IN THEIR CHARACTER AND ACTIONS.: In the time of the ancient fathers, to speak concerning illustrious persons, there were born two twin brothers, the one so immediately after the other, that the first took hold of the heel of the second. So great a difference existed in their lives and manners, so great a dissimilarity in their actions, so great a difference in their parents' love for them respectively, that the very contrast between them produced even ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 16.--THE PELAGIANS ARE REFUTED BY THE CASE OF THE TWIN INFANTS DYING, THE ONE AFTER, AND THE OTHER WITHOUT, THE GRACE OF BAPTISM.: But that every lurking-place of your darkness 399 may be taken away from you, I have proposed to you the case of such twins as were not assisted by the merits of their parents, and both died in the very beginning of infancy, the one baptized, the other without baptism; lest you should say that God foreknew their future works, as you say of Jacob and Esau, in opposition to the apostle. For how did He foreknow that those”
- Romans (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Romans 9:10: 9:10-11 she gave birth to twins: No human circumstances differentiated Isaac’s sons, Jacob and Esau. Not only were they born to the same mother, but they were also conceived at the same time. Instead, Paul argues, the difference between them was of God’s choosing.”
- Mishneh Torah (Maimonides) (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishneh Torah (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah%2C Forbidden Intercourse 10:18: When a woman gives birth to twins - a boy and a girl - she is governed by the laws that apply to the birth of a female. 43 I.e., she must observe 14 days of impurity and then is given 66 days of purity. We do not restrict her to 26 days because of the birth of the boy. If she gives birth to a tumtum 44 A person whose genital area is covered by a mass of flesh and thus it is impossible to determine his or her gender. or an androgynus , 45 A person who has both male and female sexual organs. There is an unresolved halachic”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 35.--WHAT WAS INDICATED BY THE DIVINE ANSWER ABOUT THE TWINS STILL SHUT UP IN THE WOMB OF REBECCA THEIR MOTHER.: Let us now see how the times of the city of God run on from this point among Abraham's descendants. In the time from the first year of Isaac's life to the seventieth, when his sons were born, the only memorable thing is, that when he prayed God that his wife, who was barren, might bear, and the Lord granted what he sought, and she conceived, the twins leapt while still enclosed in her womb. And when she was troubled by”