God's oversight of humanity reaches into the deepest layers of the human soul. True understanding of divine justice begins with the realization that God does not merely judge visible actions. He examines the hidden motives and the complex inner workings of the mind.
There is a sharp distinction between divine knowledge and divine sight. Knowledge refers to the internal, hidden traits of a person. God knows the inner tendency of a human being toward lies and empty pursuits. Sight refers to the concrete, visible crime. God clearly sees the actual, physical sin [מלבי״ם]. Furthermore, this divine sight is not limited by time. God sees future sins as a current reality before they even happen. He does not merely guess what a person might do based on their character. He sees the future action as if it were already taking place [אלשיך].
When considering how God processes these actions, commentators present three distinct but complementary perspectives. The first approach highlights the perfection of divine understanding. Unlike humans, who need time to investigate and use logic to figure out the truth, God sees a sin and instantly grasps every detail. He does not need to pause, observe, or investigate further [אבן עזרא, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ, אלשיך].
A second approach views this process through the lens of mercy and patience. God clearly sees the sin but chooses to look away, acting as though He does not notice the bad deeds. Out of compassion, He overlooks early offenses to give His creations time to change [רש״י, רמב״ן, אלשיך]. On the other hand, this same dynamic can be understood as a withdrawal of divine presence. In this view, God knows the actions of the wicked but steps back, leaving them to chance rather than actively guiding their lives [תקות אנוש].
A third perspective reads the entire concept as a detailed breakdown of different types of sinners. God judges every person precisely according to their intent and level of understanding. The first category includes those who sin on purpose, driven by their own desires. The second category consists of people who sin because of a mental mistake. They wrongly believe their actions are acceptable, even though they have the ability to know better. The final category involves those who sin out of total ignorance. These individuals lack basic knowledge and make absolutely no effort to understand God's ways [מצודת דוד, רלב״ג].