Greek word · G1324

Δίδυμος

didymos

Didymus

The ordinary Greek word for 'twin' or 'twofold.' Used as a noun, it means a twin brother or sister.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

Δίδυμος, -ου, ὁ

(prop. name from δίδυμος, -η, -ον, double, sc. παῖς, twin)

Didymus, surname of the apostle Thomas: John 11:16 20:24 21:2.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 21:2

Range of meaning

The ordinary Greek word for 'twin' or 'twofold.' Used as a noun, it means a twin brother or sister.

Against the English

KJV, NASB, BSB and WEB keep 'Didymus' as if it were a proper name. ESV ('the Twin') and NLT ('nicknamed the Twin') translate it.

How it drifted

Older English versions carried the Greek word over as a name. Readers then took it for a second name or a surname instead of a translation.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in Greek papyri and literature as a personal name and as the word for 'twin.' Some Syriac tradition (the Acts of Thomas, around the 3rd century) calls him 'Judas Thomas,' Judas the Twin. In the Gospel of Thomas he is 'Didymos Judas Thomas.' That gives the word for 'twin' three times over: a proper name plus the Aramaic and Greek words. These are later traditions, not the evidence of John.

Where it appears

John · 3

  1. John 11:16 Δίδυμος Didymus

    Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

    Here: The ordinary Greek word for 'twin'. John is translating 'Thomas' for Greek-speaking readers. It is not a second name or a surname.

  2. John 20:24 Δίδυμος Didymus

    Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

  3. John 21:2 Δίδυμος, Didymus,

    Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.

    Here: The ordinary Greek word for 'twin.' It translates his Aramaic name for Greek-speaking readers. It is not a second, separate name.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.