Outside of the Jewish apocrypha, Greco-Roman pagan writers frequently refer to Abraham as an astrologer, sage, and philosopher.

There are many examples of this. Alexander Polyhistor (1st century BC) says that Abraham discovered astrology, Berossus (3rd century BC) said that he was a sage of celestial bodies, Vettius Valens (2nd century AD) wrote astrology books based on his observations, and Julianus (4th century AD) said that he was an astrology expert.

Ancient Jewish writers were also aware of and disturbed by the perception of Abraham in the pagan world. As a counter-rhetoric, in the commentary on the book of Genesis, Bereshit Rabbah (5th century AD), God says to Abraham, “You are a prophet, not an astrologer.” says.