Sforno on Exodus 3:7/ספורנו על שמות ג׳:ז׳

1 ראה ראיתי את עני עמי, “I have indeed seen the plight of My people.” A reference to the righteous ones among them who groaned and sighed over the sins of their generation and their resulting plight, praying. In response to the prayer of these righteous people the angel answered out of the burning bush. The meaning of the words ראה ראיתי is “indeed I have seen, taken notice.” This construction is normal wherever the Torah employs a dual, duplicate construction. The reason for the duplication is as if to contradict someone who denies that G’d has seen what goes on. It is as if saying: ‘in spite of anything you think or say, I insist that you are wrong and I am right.” It is similar to Yaakov negating Joseph’s trying go correct the position of his hands when he was blessing Ephrayim and Menashe. At that time Yaakov simply said: “I know my son, I know.” (Genesis 48,19) The angel confirmed to Moses that in spite of G’d being aware of the Israelite’s problems and the fact that He was going to inflict numerous plagues on the Egyptians, the latter would not simply collapse in spite of all the plagues. My intention with the plagues is not to destroy the Egyptians and to leave the Israelites in their place, on their land, but I want to save the Israelites and to take them out of Egypt in order to settle them elsewhere.