I remember that, as children, we would often make jokes that played on the idea that, in the Bible, to ‘know’ meant ‘to have sex with’. This idea is certainly not uncommon.

But I suggest that we are a bit too quick in our evaluations here. This ‘knowledge’ may include sexuality, but it is intimacy. It means ‘to know in such a way as to be continually deepening and refreshing one’s intimacy’. Sexual activity is surely within the bounds of such knowing, but is not its root. Intimacy is driven not by sex, but by interest, concern, awareness, and, perhaps, wonder.

To know, is to be ‘in the process of becoming ever-more intimate with’. This is like a ‘way of love’ in many cases, but it can also be, I think, the result of lesser forms of fascination.