Orosius in Hebrew? <i>Sefer Yosippon</i> 8 (ח) &amp; the sources of its Cyrus-vs-Scythians narrative between Orosius (2.7) and Herodotus (1.201–15)

Abstract One of the more interesting literary afterlives of Orosius’ Histories Against the Pagans emerges in an early medieval Hebrew text. Chapter 8 (ח) of the early tenth century work called Sefer Yosippon was identified by the author of its modern critical edition, David Flusser, as having drawn upon Orosius 2.7 in narrating the final days of King Cyrus. This article undertakes a source-critical examination of Sefer Yosippon 8 vis-a-vis Orosius 2.7 as well as Herodotus 1.201–15, Justin’s Epitome 1.8, and Jordanes’ Getica 10.61–62. This analysis helps to clarify how certainly and to what extent Sefer Yosippon drew upon Orosius, whether other carriers of the traditions are implicated, and how Sefer Yosippon made use of its Latin Christian source (and perhaps other sources). What this article shows is that Sefer Yosippon’s use of Orosius is characterized by considerable rewriting and authorial freedom, suggesting that the Hebrew author was very much at home in both drawing upon and amending his Latin source. This reception-historical case study not only marks an interesting moment in the transmission of Western historiography, but also constitutes a literary site of Jewish-Christian engagement as Sefer Yosippon’s Jewish author retools a story used by Orosius for Christian polemic for new Jewish historiographical purposes.