What are the connotations of "le'Shochni be'Socham"?
Rashi, Rashbam and R. Bachye: It means that Hashem took Yisrael out of Egypt with the intention 1 of dwelling in their midst. 2
Ramban #1: It means that when Hashem dwells in their midst, 3 they will know that He is their G-d, and believe that He took them out of Egypt.
Ramban #2 (citing the Ibn Ezra) 4 : The sole objective 5 of taking Yisrael out of Egypt was to dwell in their midst. 6
And the 'Lamed' in "Leshochni" means 'in order to ... '.
Otherwise He would not have taken them out ? a proof that the Shechinah dwelling in Yisrael is for the needs of Hashem. R. Bachye elaborates, citing many sources for this, one of them from Hoshe?a 13:4 ?ve?Anochi Hashem Elokecha me?Eretz MItzrayim v?Elokim Lo Seida u?Moshia Ein Bilti!?. See R. Bachye
Ramban: Since the 'Lamed' in "le'Shochni" is like a 'Beis' ("be'Shochni"), like we find in Shmuel 1, 18:14 & 20:30 and in Bamidbar 20:24.
This appears to conform to the explanation of Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan.
Ramban: In which case, the purpose of Yetzi'as Mitzrayim was in order to glorify Hashem's Name. See Yeshayah, 49:3 and Yehoshua, 7:9.
Ramban (citing the Ibn Ezra): As Hashem told Moshe at the Burning Bush in Sh'mos, 3:12. Because, according to Kabalah, the Shechinah dwelling in Yisrael is more for Hashem's sake than for Yisrael's, as is implied in Yeshayah, 49:3, Yehoshu'a, 7:9, and even more blatantly, in Tehilim, 132:13, 14. See R. Chavel's footnotes.
