מֵ֭רֹב עֲשׁוּקִ֣ים יַזְעִ֑יקוּ יְשַׁוְּע֖וּ מִזְּר֣וֹעַ רַבִּֽים׃
פֿון װעגן די פֿיל רױבערײַען שרײַט מען, מע קלאָגט זיך װעגן דעם אָרעם פֿון די שטאַרקע,
Tur HaArokh
זעקת סדום ועמורה כי רבה, “the outcry rising from Sodom and Gomorrha is indeed of vast proportions.” According to Ibn Ezra, they either spoke out openly against G’d (the seven universal laws given by G’d to mankind,) or they indulged in violent means to enforce their views. According to Nachmanides, the wordsזעקת סדום וגו' refer to the outcry to G’d of the souls of the victims of such violence (compare Job 35,9: יזעיקו ישועו רבים, ”many oppressed cry out.”)
Rabbeinu Bahya
“And their outcry due to the labor went up to the Lord.” They were not worthy of redemption even though the end [of the exile] had already come. But because their labor caused them to cry out to God, He accepted their prayers. The verse mentions twice “due to the labor”: “And the Israelites groaned and cried out due to the labor, and their outcry due to the labor went up to God.” This shows that the prayer a person recites when in trouble and under duress is more wholesome and acceptable and goes straight up to God! Similarly, you will find that the Prophet Jonah inferred this when he said (Jonah 2:8): “When my soul grew faint upon me, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came to You, to Your Holy Temple.” The prophet said clearly that a prayer which is recited when one is suffering and faint, is a prayer that will come before God in His Holy Temple.
Rabbeinu Chananel
ויזעקו ותעל שועתם, they cried out, and their outcry rose (to heaven). The outcry by the Israelites reported here (after 86 years of oppression) proves that their suffering had reached new heights. We find such a reaction to excessive oppression in Job 35,9 “because of contention the oppressed cry out; They shout because of the power of the great.” [in that paragraph, alas, the complaint has no address, no one addresses the only One Who can help. Ed.]