Amuno (ἀμύνω) means to defend, help, or ward off. It carries the sense of active protection — coming to someone's defense or driving away an attacker. In the middle voice (amynomai), it means to defend oneself. This is a relatively rare NT word but important for understanding the concept of protective intervention.
Acts 7:24 provides the most significant NT use: Moses 'defended' (emynato) the oppressed Hebrew man by striking the Egyptian. Stephen's speech in Acts 7 presents this as a prototype of Moses as deliverer-figure who, despite misunderstanding, was defending his people — as Christ would do ultimately. The word connects to the broader Greek cultural concept of imitê — defending honor and protecting the vulnerable. In biblical theology, God is the ultimate Defender — He defends the poor and weak (Psalm 82:3-4) and will ultimately vindicate His elect (Luke 18:7-8).
Amuno raises the question of legitimate defense and advocacy. Moses's defense of the Hebrew (Acts 7:24) is presented as right impulse, wrong method. Christians are called not to seek personal vengeance (Romans 12:19) but are invited to defend the vulnerable and oppressed — an expression of God's own character as Defender of the weak. The ultimate defender is Christ, whose intercession at the Father's right hand is the eternal advocacy (1 John 2:1: 'we have an advocate [parakletos] with the Father').