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The Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria refers to Abraham in connection with astronomy, following a tradition that linked Chaldea with astronomy. Jubilees presents a similar image, describing Abraham observing the stars to forecast the weather.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 12:16
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
15 And Terah went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, he and his sons, to go into the land of Lebanon and into the land of Canaan, and he dwelt in the land of Haran, and Abram dwelt with Terah his father in Haran two weeks of years. 16 And in the sixth week, in the fifth year of it, [1951] Abram sat up throughout the night on the new moon of the seventh month to observe the stars from the evening to the morning, in order to see what would be the character of the year with regard to the rains, and he was alone as he sat and observed. 17 And a word came into his heart and he said: All the signs of the stars, and the signs of the moon and of the sun are all in the hand of the Lord. Why do I search (them) out?
Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5.14.139
Early Christian
And so, according to the Greeks, none is so great as to be above judgment, none so insignificant as to escape its notice. And the same Orpheus speaks thus: "But to the word divine, looking, attend, Keeping aright the heart's receptacle Of intellect, and tread the straight path well, And only to the world's immortal King Direct thy gaze." And again, respecting God, saying that He was invisible, and that He was known to but one, a Chaldean by race -- meaning either by this Abraham or his son -- he speaks as follows: "But one a scion of Chaldean race; For he the sun's path knew right well, And how the motion of the sphere about The earth proceeds, in circle moving Equally around its axis, how the winds Their chariot guide o'er air and sea." Then, as if paraphrasing the expression, "Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool," he adds : "But in great heaven, He is seated firm Upon a throne of gold, and neath His feet The earth. His right hand round the ocean's bound He stretches; and the hills' foundations shake To the centre at His wrath, nor can endure His mighty strength.
Date: 195 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In the ancient world, Chaldea was famous for one thing in particular: it was the home of astronomy and astrology. So great was the association between Chaldea and the study of the stars that the very word 'Chaldean' came to mean 'astronomer' in both Aramaic and Greek. Many interpreters therefore naturally assumed that Abraham the Chaldean must himself have been something of an astronomer. And so a number of early sources present Abraham as both a learned astronomer and a teacher of this occult lore to others ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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