know someone in the biblical sense

From the use of know in the Bible. Some Bible translations, such as the King James Version, translate the Hebrew word יָדַע (yādaʿ) as know even in sexual contexts, giving rise to lines like “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived.”

• "James may not have known women in the biblical sense; but had Adams read the novels with care, he would have been agreeably surprised by the keen insights on the feminine psyche displayed there."
• "As for Modigliani he is not a painter I know so I don't know if he knew Bianca in the biblical sense or not."
• "Paul says there are still those who knew him, in the Biblical sense, living on the West Coast — that he was "trade" for "everybody.""
• "It only stood to reason that a woman who knew Him in a Biblical sense would have to be His bride."

• go in unto
• know
• lie with
• copulate with

• carnal knowledge