The LORD has taken his place to contend is literally “He has stood to argue, Yahweh.” Like a prosecutor or a judge in a court of law, Yahweh stands ready to argue a case against an accused person. In this case the accused are his people and their leaders, which will become clear in the following lines. The Hebrew verb rendered contend is significant since it has a special use in prophetic writing. The prophets use this verb when charging Israel with its many offenses. So the setting here is a courtroom, which New International Version makes explicit with “The LORD takes his place in court.”

He stands to judge his people: This line is parallel with the first one. He stands is synonymous with taken his place, and judge is parallel with contend. His people is the object of the judgment. The people are not mentioned until the end of the verse, which is a way to highlight them in Hebrew. The Hebrew text says “the peoples” (that is, the nations) rather than his people (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Bible en français courant), which is the Septuagint reading. The Hebrew Old Testament Text Project committee recommends “the peoples.” The Hebrew word here possibly carries a meaning of universality—all the people of the world. (The next verse will then focus on Judah.) Contemporary English Version makes it universal by saying “all nations.” A compromise solution is to say “the people” (New International Version).

Several examples for this verse are:

• Yahweh stands up to argue his case,
he rises to judge the people.

• Yahweh stands [in the court] to accuse,
he stands up to judge the people.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .