Or HaChaim on Exodus 6:6/אור החיים על שמות ו׳:ו׳

1 לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני ה׳. "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am י־ה־ו־ה.'" Moses was to tell the Israelites in the name of G'd that He was the attribute of Mercy and that He had decided to invoke this attribute on their behalf. As a result, He would lead them out of Egypt and perform the other stages which would complete the process of redemption.

2The word לכן is a form of an oath as we know from Ezekiel 20,30-42. In that instance the prophet refers to our verse as something concerning which G'd had said: "I have raised My hand," i.e. a clear form of an oath.

3G'd enumerates the steps of the redemption. 1) First "I will take you out from beneath the hard labour of Egypt;" this is the removal of the slave labour performed for the Egyptians. It would commence immediately with the plague of blood. Although this resulted in the dispersal of the taskmasters, the Israelites continued to perform light duty tasks. 2) "I will save you from their bondage;" this referred to the remaining kind of labour the Israelites performed for the Egyptians. 3) "I will liberate you;" this refers to the actual departure of the Israelites from the country. This also includes the splitting of the sea as the departure would have been meaningless without that final stage. The word וגאלתי must refer to a liberation which is not followed by pursuit. Following that stage the Jewish people would experience ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם," I will take you to be My people" which is a reference to the revelation at Mount Sinai when G'd gave us the Torah. At that point G'd would be able to say that: "I have truly become your G'd."

4These latter words may also refer to Moses' prayer in Exodus 33,16 which Berachot 7 interprets to mean that G'd should not reveal Himself to any other nation nor give them prophets. The operative word in והייתי לכם לאלוקים then would be לכם, "for you exclusively."

5One could also understand this verse as speaking of four separate redemptions as does Shemot Rabbah 6,4. This may be alluded to in G'd first again repeating His attribute as the tetragram. Accordingly, the four activities of which G'd speaks here would each be a redemption from a different decree of Pharaoh. The words "I shall be your G'd" would then refer to G'd having proved that He kept His promise. The name אלוקים often occurs as symbolic of truth and honesty. The knowledge of G'd as the attribute of Mercy will become widespread amongst the people as a result of these four redemptions.