Eve's choice to eat the fruit (it is never specifically described as an apple or any other kind of fruit) is a result of giving in to temptation. Though she saw the choice as rational, it was only after the smooth talking of the serpent.
When the serpent asks if God commanded her not to eat the fruit, it is interesting to note that she not only says that she may not eat it, but also that she is not allowed to touch it, an additional restriction that was not in God's original comment in Genesis 2:17. This shows that it was alluring enough that she and Adam had to extend the boundaries.
The serpent catches onto this and sees that the fruit is highly appealing to Eve. To push her temptation into action he claims that the fruit is forbidden because God knows that His domination over creation will end if the humans eat it. The tree of knowledge of good and evil will make Adam and Eve like gods.
Eve does not think rationally. She does not consider why God would leave fruit that threatens Him in easy reach, and that the tree might be a test of humanity's faith. Thus she eats the fruit out of temptation, ignoring God's earlier warning that if she eats it, she will surely die.
On an additional many several theologians in the past have claimed that the serpent targeted the woman because women in general are weaker and more predisposed to temptation. It should be mentioned that in Genesis 3:6 Adam is said to be close by. He also gives in to the alluring fruit, choosing to listen to his wife rather than to God. This shows that he was as weak against temptation as Eve, and his failure sealed the tragic path that mankind would follow.
When eve bites the apple she does so out of temptation; This is why, in the book of genesis, the first book of the bible where we encounter the story of creation and the fall of man it is clearly stated of the boundaries allowed to man by God where they are allowed to eat of any fruit from the garden except that of knowledge, at first before the appearance of the serpent who is the tempter in this case the two show no signs whatsoever of contradicting God or questioning his authority until the serpent captures Eve's attention by what was unexpected which is him speaking.
the bible reads; [Genesis 3:4-6 "And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her;and he did eat.]
Here is presented before us the factors Eve considered before she ate of the fruit which is she saw it was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and desired to make one wise as echoed by the tempter which leads us to conclude that she took a bite from the fruit as a result of falling into the temptation presented to her and not by mere impulse.
Adam was told by God that he may eat from any tree in the garden of Eden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil unless he will surely die. It is made known that Eve is aware of this instruction from God as well from her encounter with the serpent.
Eve tells the serpent what God has told her and Adam, but the serpent tells her that she won't surely die from eating it. The serpent tells her that instead, the fruit will open her eyes and make her become like God, knowing the difference between good and evil.
After hearing this, she grew a desire to consume the fruit because:
...it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise" (Genesis 3:6b ESV)
To say that it was a rational decision would be incorrect because she consumed the fruit despite receiving specific instruction not to consume the fruit.
There is no evidence in the Bible that the fruit Eve partook of was an apple. Genesis 3:5 says: “So she began taking of its fruit and eating it.” But despite the type of fruit, she still partook of the only fruit that God had commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from. Genesis 2:16,17: “God also gave this command to the man: ‘From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will certainly die.’”
In verse 3 of chapter 3, Eve tells the serpent that they were commanded not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden: “But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’”
The serpent then tempted Eve that it would be okay for her to eat from the tree in verse 4 and 5: “At this the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die. For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.”
At this point, Eve knew what direction God had given her. Now she has been given new information that tempts her into thinking irrationally. Verse 6 then explains what she decided to do: “Consequently, the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was something desirable to the eyes, yes, the tree was pleasing to look at. So she began taking of its fruit and eating it.”
Although she was unsure what the consequences would be from eating the fruit, she still allowed a temptation to influence her decision. She succumbed to the desire of the eyes instead of allowing her rationality to influence her decision.
Before he creates Eve, God tells Adam that if he eats any apple from the tree of knowledge, he will die.
You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
So, the first question is, did Adam relay this information onto Eve? Eve answers this at the beginning of "The Fall" section, when she tells the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die."
The serpent then persuades her to go against God by saying that eating from the tree will open her eyes to the world, and, like God, she will know good and evil. At this point, one could argue that her decision would have been rational if she made it based it on the serpent's suggestion that God was preventing her and Adam from evolving beyond who they were at that moment. The fact is, however, that good and evil would have probably been a difficult, if not impossible, concept for her to grasp at that point in her existence. As the Bible states, she made her decision based on how delicious the apples looked and how much more powerful she thought she would become.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
Overall, her decision is irrational because she eats the apple without truly understanding the consequences of doing so. The only thing that she knows for sure is that it will in some way change her (up to that point) pleasant life.
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