Charles Ellicott Commentary John 11:16

"Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said unto his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him." — John 11:16 (ASV)

Then (or, better, therefore) said Thomas, which is called Didymus.—The second of these names is the Greek translation of the first, which is Hebrew. Both mean “twin.” Both are found together again in John 20:24 and John 21:2. Compare to the Notes on the Catalogues of the Apostles in Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, and Luke 6:15. In all of these, he is coupled with Matthew, whose twin-brother he possibly was. Additionally, in Acts 1:13, he is coupled with Philip.

The name probably belonged to his childhood, and we are completely without the knowledge that can explain it. The various theories that attempt to do so—from the statement of the Apostolical Constitutions that he had a twin sister Lydia, to the view that the name was given by our Lord to signify his double or halting spiritual nature—are never more than, and are sometimes much less than, elaborate guesses. We may well believe that the name is due to the fact that he was a twin, but whose twin he was is not important for us to know, and it is quite certain that we cannot know.

And yet Peter, John, and Judas, are the only Apostles whose characters we know as well. This is owing to three incidents preserved for us by St. John—the present passage, John 14:5, and John 20:24 and following.

We have before us here a man looking at events from a mind full of the darkest apprehension. He is without hope that a return to Judea can have any but one issue for his Master. The night is so clearly seen that the brightness of day is obscured. But with all this, there is the full love of a devoted disciple, who will follow his Master even to death.