הכתב והקבלה — וירא אלהים את בני ישראל וידע אלהים

Q — 'וירא אלהים את בני ישראל וידע אלהים' — the second clause has no object. Rashi fills it in ('שם אליהם לב'), Ibn Ezra supplies a hidden one (the secret oppression). But why does the verse leave it dangling?

A — HaKtav VeHaKabbalah relocates the subject. 'וידע אלהים' does NOT have Hashem as the one who knows — the unstated subject is *Yisrael*. The standard route to knowing the Creator is through seeing His judgment in the world ('נודע ה' משפט עשה,' Tehillim 9:17). As long as a person sees no divine justice in the world, Hashem seems distant; once the משפט appears, the existence and השגחה of God become legible. So the verse marks the turning point: Hashem 'appeared' (the מכות are about to start) — and by means of this visible judgment, Yisrael themselves *came to know* Elokim. The grammar resists the standard read; the theology rewards the resistance.