Might Thomas Not Originally Mean Twin?

[ArtH]

I am curious as to which language it is in which Thomas means twin. It clearly was not something that was immediately obvious to the intended readers of the text, or the writer would not have felt the obligation to state it. It occurs to me that the reason it is included in the gospel could be that Thomas was saying something to that effect every time someone asked him what his name meant. If that were the case, one reason could be that, in fact, Thomas might have been intentionally misleading as to what his given name actually was. He might well have done so if his factual given name were something like Tammuz, the name of a popular Babylonian deity which his parents might have given him for whatever reason. If that were the case, I can easily imagine why Thomas, a good Jew, would want to obscure that as much as possible. Finally, if such could be true, the question as to whose twin Thomas was would become moot. I would be very interested in whether anyone has any hard data on this matter. Thank you.

 

[Grayton]

The word “twin” is translated from the Greek word and name “Didymus” So, in the Douay-Rheims translation of John 20:24, I read “Now, Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus”. If you compare the various Greek texts and early English translations appearing at the following page:
pjrcmr.apostolicnetwork.com/greekparallel/B43C020.htm
you will note that Didymus is translated by some as “twin.” I never studied Greek, so I can’t comment further. However, as someone with a general interest in languages and names, I note an obvious phonetic similarity between the last two syllables “Dymus” and “Thomas.”

Douay-Rheims also uses “Didymus” (not “twin”) at John 21:2