Cain and Abel may have been twins

 

“Do not be like Cain who was of the evil one and cut the throat of his brother”.

I John 3:12

The writers of the following two pieces believe that Cain and Abel definitely were twins:

http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/cain-and-abel-were-twins.html


Susan Burns, a regular reader of Just Genesis and a fellow member of Open Anthropology Cooperative, has written an interesting and informative piece on Cain and Abel. She and I agree that the textual evidence indicates that Cain and Abel were twins. Here is what Susan has written:

Genesis 4: Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have gotten a man with the help of YHWH". She again bare his brother Abel. The Hebrew word used for again (yasaph) is an adverb meaning to continue to do a thing. Yasaph implies that Eve gave birth to Cain and continued to do the same thing by giving birth to Abel. In other words, Cain and Abel were twins. The profession of Abel was shepherd and Cain was a farmer and city builder.

Coptic twins

The tradition of twins as the progenitors of tribal units or city builders is very well documented in Semitic and Indo-European cultures. When birth order is specified, the younger twin always receives the blessing over the first born brother. In the account of the sons of Adam, the first born twin is envious of the second and commits fratricide. There are many variations on this theme in other twin genesis accounts. Jacob is fearful that Esau will kill him, Romulus killed Remus and Gwyn and Gwythurin in Celtic tradition duel every May.
The Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux, shared a mortal and an immortal existence. Castor was killed on a cattle raid but Pollux persuaded Zeus to allow the brothers to switch places periodically. The word Gemini comes from the PIE root *ym which means 'to pair'. This word is very similar to the Hebrew im mimation suffix but, of course, linguists say they are unrelated (sigh). ....

[End of quote]

And, according to David Robinson:
https://ebible.com/questions/9639-were-cain-and-abel-twins





While scripture does not specifically state that the brothers Cain and Abel were twins, there is ample evidence to draw that conclusion. The evidence is found primarily in the wording of the text that records their birth (Gen 4:1-2). The clear pattern of speech for recording such events in scripture is to state that the man "knew" (or had relations with) his wife and she bore a son or daughter. If there was a subsequent child, the scripture then tells us that the man knew his wife again and she bore another child (see Gen 4:17, Gen 4:25, and others). In the record of the births of Cain and Abel this pattern is noticeably absent. After referencing the marital relations between Adam and Eve in verse 1, the birth of Cain is recorded. However, there is no mention of a future sexual encounter resulting in another pregnancy. Unlike some have said, there is no indication of a long pause or time period before the birth of Abel. Eve apparently had just enough time to make the observation that she had "gotten a man with the help of the Lord" before Abel was born. Some have mistakenly claimed that she named her first child Cain "before" Abel was born indicating that Cain was weaned before she bore Abel. The text neither says that nor supports that theory by inference. In fact, the clear inference from the text is that she bore Cain, then bore Abel in essentially the same birthing event making the boys twins by definition. Others have mistakenly concluded that even though the boys were born in the same birthing event, Cain's father was Satan (or the serpent from the Garden) while Abel's father was Adam. While I understand that it is theoretically possible (though extremely rare) for a woman to become pregnant with two embryos as a result of sex with two different men, there is absolutely no scriptural reason to draw that conclusion in this case. To begin with, Satan is a spirit being with no creative power. "Rosemary's Baby" notwithstanding, he has no physical body, nor can he become a man so that he could have sex with a woman. He cannot impregnate anyone with his tricks and illusions ("lying signs and wonders"). If he could, I'm sure there would be billions of little “demonoids” running around down here with physical bodies. Although there are some about whom we may have our suspicions, Satan does not have children in the natural sense! When the New Testament writers refer to Cain as evil or “of the evil one” (Heb 11:4, 1 John 3:12, Jude 11), they are referring to his spiritual condition as evidenced by his behavior, not to his physical lineage. Jesus often uses the same linguistic device when referring to the Scribes, the Pharisees, Judas Iscariot, and others saying they were of their father the devil, sons of Satan, sons of perdition, devils, etc. The Pharisees boasted in being “sons of Abraham,” which was, indeed, their physical lineage. Jesus changed the narrative by pointing out their spiritual affiliation. Their father was Satan because they followed him and rejected Jesus.
Likewise, Cain’s physical father was Adam, but his spiritual and metaphorical father was Satan because he followed the ways of Satan and rejected the ways of God. Even though Cain was not a righteous man, he was still the son of Adam and Eve and (most likely the twin) brother of righteous Abel as the Bible clearly states.