Why did redemption come when it did, and not earlier? The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (2:25) has a startling answer.
"And the Lord looked upon the affliction of the bondage of the sons of Israel; and the repentance was revealed before Him which they exercised in concealment, so as that no man knew that of his companion."
Hidden teshuvah. Repentance so private that not even the penitent's neighbor knew. The Targum is doing something remarkable. It is not merely saying God noticed Israel's suffering. It is saying God noticed Israel's response to their suffering — an inner, invisible turning that only heaven could register.
This is a quiet revolution in the theology of redemption. The cry (2:23) was the outer signal. But the cry alone would not have been enough. What moved heaven was what was happening inside the Israelite heart — a repentance so concealed that your brick-making partner working beside you in the clay pit did not know you had spent the night in tears.
Why concealed? Because slavery had taught Israel not to trust each other. Any public confession could be reported. Any audible prayer could be punished. So the teshuvah went underground. And the Holy One, who sees the hidden places, saw it there.
This midrashic reading shapes much of later Jewish thought on private devotion. The Chasidim of Eastern Europe would return to this verse for centuries: the prayer God most loves is the one no one else sees you pray.
Beloved, when you cannot speak your teshuvah, do not assume it is wasted. Heaven does its best reading in the dark.