The impending redemption of the Israelites is driven by a complex blend of factors rather than a single cause. It is born from a commitment to past promises, a direct response to the brutal reality of enslavement, and profound mercy for a suffering nation. Just as God established the original covenant with the Patriarchs, He remains obligated to fulfill it, a promise that stands firm even if the Israelites had sinned [רש״י, מזרחי, גור אריה, דברי דוד]. God communicates to Moses that He is intimately aware of the people's anguish. This serves as a personal reassurance to Moses: he is not alone in his empathy, nor is he more merciful than God, who deeply shares in the pain of the Israelites [העמק דבר]. Beyond relying on the merit of the Patriarchs or formal prayers, God responds to a pure, visceral cry of distress and repentance [אבן עזרא, ספורנו, אור החיים, הטור הארוך, קאסוטו]. This cry is understood as both a deep groan of despair [ביאור שטיינזלץ] and a shriek of immense agony akin to a dying person, revealing that the grueling labor was actively claiming lives [אור החיים, מלבי״ם].
The cruelty of the Egyptians plays a pivotal role in triggering the redemption. The Egyptians took it upon themselves to intensify the oppression far beyond the original Divine decree. While the initial decree stated that the Israelites would be strangers and servants, the Egyptians independently imposed illegal, backbreaking labor and cruel subjugation [שפתי כהן]. It is this specific, unmandated injustice that elicited the Israelites' desperate cries [נחל קדומים, פרדס יוסף, דברי דוד].
Hearing this agony, God turns His attention to the covenant established with the Patriarchs [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The primary approach among commentators is that this refers specifically to the Covenant Between the Parts. The cries of the enslaved people activated a specific clause of that agreement: the promise that God would judge the nation that oppressed them. Therefore, remembering the covenant signifies the active decision to punish the Egyptians through plagues and open miracles [רש״י, מלבי״ם, מזרחי, גור אריה, משכיל לדוד]. Another perspective suggests the covenant refers to the promise of the land. The agony of the Egyptian bondage highlighted the urgent need for the Israelites to possess their own homeland to prevent future subjugation, prompting God's mercy to accelerate the fulfillment of this promise [אור החיים, לבוש האורה].
Commentators explore the exact relationship between the people's suffering and the activation of the covenant. Some suggest that the sheer intensity of the suffering and the resulting cries are what made the Israelites worthy of redemption, prompting God to remember His promise [ספורנו, קאסוטו, גור אריה]. Others argue the reverse: it was only because the covenant was already in place that God turned to listen to their cries [יריעות שלמה]. A unique perspective offers that the enslavement was never a random tragedy, but a deliberate, providentially guided process designed specifically to culminate in the covenant's fulfillment [העמק דבר, רש״ר הירש].
Ultimately, whenever God is described as remembering, it signifies that the time for action and consequence has arrived. By stating this, God assures Moses that the redemption is imminent and unavoidable, leaving no room for doubt or fear [ביאור יש״ר].