An archetype is an original pattern, model or symbol, that represents an idea or concept. It is a typical or classic example of a pattern for other things of the same type. The Bible has many archetypes being embodied by the characters. In this blogpost, five characters in the Old Testament will be characterized as to how they embody an archetype: Eve as the Femme Fatale, Rahab as the Divine Prostitute, Ruth as the Damsel in Distress, Joseph as the Hero, and Job as the Innocent Sufferer.
One of the most considered Femme Fatales in the Bible is Eve, the first woman. A Femme Fatale (French, “Deadly Woman”), according to Encarta Dictionaries, is “a woman who is considered to be highly attractive and to have a destructive effect on those who succumb to her charms”. A Femme Fatale brings disaster to a man or men who become involved with her. In the Bible, Eve is the archetype of a Femme Fatale because of her seductive beauty that lead Adam, the first man, to eat the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden which then lead to a destructive effect. She is therefore considered to be the Femme Fatale because of her involvement with the fall of men. She was first succumbed to temptation when the evil serpent persuades her to eat the forbidden fruit and therefore lead Adam’s downfall. It is in Genesis 3:12 where Adam told God of Eve’s fault, “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (KJV). And the destruction that Eve, the Femme Fatale, had caused was stated in Genesis 3:23-24, “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming
