Part One – Life | 156 This issue was treated in detail by Reuven Bonfil, in his article “Mai Hinuma” Minhag Nisuin Yehudi Kadum”, apud Hagut Ivrit Be - Europa : Studies in Jewish Themes by Contemporary European Scholars, eds . H . Zehori and a . tartakover, Israel 1969, pp . 57 - 70, who surveyed the existing research, rejecting the various etymologies, offering in place his suggestions that the bride went forth painted with henna . I find his suggestion equally unconvincing . and though I have no real solution to this puzzle, I would prefer the meaning accorded by rashi, and as a tentative suggestion might seek to relate hinuma to the Greek verbs heinumi ( = kataeinumi ) , meaning to clotte or cover ( LSJ 2 nd edition, pp . 489 b, 890 b suv . ) , hence some sort of a veil covering her face . But this too is questionable . Here I should also like to add some interesting comparative material, such as E . O . James’ remarks on this subject in his Christian Myth and Ritual : A Historical ...
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