The possibility that Cain and Abel were twins, though not explicitly affirmed in Genesis 4:1-2, arises from the text’s ambiguity and has sparked diverse interpretations. Scholars like Gordon Wenham argue against it, asserting, “There is no indication that Cain and Abel, unlike Esau and Jacob, were twins,” emphasizing Abel’s younger status as theologically significant. Early interpreters such as Rashi, Philo, Didymus the Blind, as well as later interpreters such as Calvin, all leave room for the possibility Cain and Abel were twins. Though scholars such as John Byron have noted this fact, there is currently no research demonstrating the theological significance of this view.
This paper argues that reading Cain and Abel as twins is not only a viable interpretation but also theologically significant. By examining Genesis 4:1-2’s literary structure, the paper will establish the plausibility of this interpretation. Next, it will review historical interpretations that acknowledge twinship, suggesting that this lens aligns best with Genesis’s broader narrative framework. Finally, the paper will explore how a twin reading illuminates theological themes such as election and divine sovereignty. By framing Cain and Abel within God’s redemptive plan, the paper will demonstrate how this understanding enhances Abel’s acceptance before the Lord.
Gordon Wenham, Genesis 1–18, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 1 (Thomas Nelson, 1987), 101–102.
Pentateuch with Rashi’s Commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934.
Philo, QG 1.78. Philo, On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain, in Philo: Volume II, trans. F. H. Colson and G. H. Whitaker (Harvard University Press, 1929), 95–101.
“Whether he [Philo] is right or not you can work out for yourself, though it is possible also that they were born separately at different times.” Didymus the Blind, ed. by Robert C. Hill, Commentary on Genesis, The Fathers of the Church, A New Translation, v. 132 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2016), 115
John Calvin comments that “although Moses does not state that Cain and Abel were twins, it yet seems to me probable that they were so; for, after he has said that Eve by her first conception, brought forth her first-born, he soon after subjoins that she also bore another.” John Calvin, A Commentary on Genesis, Translated and edited by John King (London, UK: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), 189.
John Byron, Cain and Abel in Text and Tradition (Brill, 2011), 20–27. See also J. Rendel Harris, The Cult of the Heavenly Twins (John Clay, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1906), 34.