Central motif of the Bible

[From an email...]

Awhile back I sent a kind of sloppy list of central motifs of the Bible. One way lists work is an initial list may not be definitive, but it enables you to get perspective and perhaps see what is missing. Also you can get a sense of hierarchy.

Now I see that the motif of the 'serpent and the serpent slayer' can be seen as the foundational archetypal motif of the Bible.

I've always seen the story of the knight who slays the dragon and rescues something of value the dragon was keeping in his cave as a big - BIG - universal, archetypal story that underlies so much reality and carries so much meaning.

And there it is throughout the Bible as central motif from Genesis to Revelation. 

Another big, central motif I missed is the City of God motif. From Eden to the New Jerusalem. It kind of overrides the more elemental serpent and serpent slayer motif.

Two books:

The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer by Andrew Naselli

The City of God and the Goal of Creation by T. Desmond Alexander

Both are part of a series titled Short Studies in Biblical Theology.