We have no reason to believe Adam and Eve did not have sex before this. Knew indicates an act that contributes to the bond of unity and the building up of a one-flesh relationship. Most terms and phrases people use for sex today are either coarse or violent, but the Bible sees sex as a means of knowing one another in a committed relationship. It shows the high, interpersonal terms in which the Bible sees the sexual relationship.
The term knew or “to know” is a polite way of saying they had sexual relations and the term is used often in the Bible in this sense ( Genesis 4:17, 4:25, 38:26, Judges 11:39, 1 Samuel 1:19). Now Adam knew Eve his wife: This is the first specific mention of sex in the Bible. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.”Ī.
