There are two sets of known twins in the Bible, both of which can be found in the book of Genesis.
The Known Twins
Jacob and Esau
The twin brothers Jacob and Esau are by far the most famous of the twins that are mentioned in the Bible. Born to Isaac and Rebekah, these to boys were double trouble right from the start. In (Genesis 25:22) it says the two children were struggling with each other in Rebekah’s womb.
When it came time for her to give birth, Esau was the first to come out. He was described as being red with his whole body like a hairy garment (Genesis 25:25). Literally right on the heels of Esau came Jacob. The Bible says when Jacob was born his hand was grasping Esau’s heel (Genesis 25:26). From convincing Esau to sell him his birthright for some bread and lentils, to stealing their father’s blessing from him, Jacob eventually became the stronger of the two counterparts.
Perez and Zerah
Born to Tamar, the second pair of twin brothers are found in (Genesis 38:27-30). Perez and Zerah were a result of the widow Tamar disguising herself as a prostitute and sleeping with her father-in-law Judah.
Possible Twins in the Bible
Thomas Didymus
Better known as “Doubting Thomas”, the apostle also went by the name Didymus (John 11:16, 20:24, 21:2). Although a twin brother of Thomas is never specifically mentioned in the Scriptures, both the names Thomas and Didymus mean twin. This leads many to the conclusion that there was indeed a twin for this disciple of Jesus.
Some make the argument for Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-2), as well as Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 41:50-52) being twins. While it is possible for these siblings to have been twins, there is no solid evidence from the Scriptures that this was indeed the case.
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