Midrash sobre II Crónicas 32:1

(II Chron. 32, 1) After these things and veritable events came Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and invaded Judah, and besieged the fortified cities, and thought to break them open for himself. Is such a reward adequate for such a man [Hezekiah]? And also what is the meaning of after? Rabina said: "It means after the Holy One, praised be He! had sworn; for He said, 'If I would tell Hezekiah that I will bring Sennacherib, and deliver him in his hands, he would say to me, I want neither to be scared nor to have him delivered to me.' And therefore the Holy One, praised be He! swore that he will bring him in, as it is said (Isa. 14, 24-24) Sworn hath the Lord of hosts, saying, Surely as I have purposed, so doth it come to pass; and as I have resolved, so shall it occur. To break Asshur in my own land, and upon my mountains will I tread him under foot; then shall his yoke be removed from off them, and his burden shall be removed from off their shoulders. R. Jochanan said: "The Holy One, praised be He! said: 'Sennacherib with his companions shall come and be made a crib for Hezekiah and his associates'." (Ib. 10, 27) And it shall come to pass on that day, that his burden shall be removed from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be broken because of the fatness. R. Isaac of Nafcha said: "The yoke of Sennacherib was broken because of the fats of Hezekiah which he used to kindle in the prayer house and in the house of learning." What did he do? He placed a sword on the gate of the house of learning as a sign that he who would not occupy himself with the Torah would be slain by the sword. And thereafter a search was made from the city of Dan to the city of Beersheba, and there was not found one ignoramus among them. And also from the city of Gebeth to the city of Antiphras, and there was not found even one among women and children who was not acquainted with the law of purification. And to that generation is applied the passage (Ib. 7, 21) And it shall come to pass on that day, that a man shall nourish [but] one young cow and two sheep; and also the passage (23) And it shall come to pass on that day that every place, where there are [now] a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, shall be — yea, this shall be (given up) to briers and thorns, i.e., though the vine was worth a thousand silver shekels, it was neglected and turned to briers and thorns because all of them occupied themselves with the study of the law. (Ib. 33, 4) And your spoil shall be gathered as the cricket gathereth. Thus said the prophet to Israel: "Gather your spoils." They said to him: "Shall each one gather for himself or shall it be divided into equal shares?" The prophet answered: "As the cricket gathereth," i.e., as the cricket gathereth each one for himself, so also shall you gather. Then they said to him: "Is there not among these the property of the ten tribes which was robbed by the Assyrians?" He answered: "(Ib. ib. 4) i.e., just as the brook render man from the state of uncleanliness to cleanliness, so also is the case of an Israelite, as soon as his property falls into the hands of an idolater he loses his claim of ownership."