The war against Midian in the Targum's version of (Numbers 31) is a supernatural thriller. Twelve thousand Israelite soldiers went out with Phinehas carrying "the Urim and Thummim consecrated to inquire for them, and the Jubilee trumpets in his hand." He was not just a warrior—he was a walking oracle and signal corps in one person.
The Targum identifies one of the five Midianite kings as Balak himself: "Zur, who is Balak." The king who had hired Bileam to curse Israel was hiding among Midian's royalty all along.
The death of Bileam is the Targum's most spectacular battle scene. When Bileam saw Phinehas pursuing him, "he made use of his magical arts and flew in the air of the heavens." The sorcerer literally took flight. But Phinehas "forthwith pronounced the Great and Holy Name and flew after him, and seized him by his head." A midair chase and capture, powered by the divine Name against dark magic. Bileam begged for his life, swearing never to curse Israel again. Phinehas's response was devastating: "Are you not Laban the Aramean who sought to destroy Jacob our father, who went down into Egypt to destroy his children, who sent Amalek against them after the Exodus, and who now gave the evil counsel to Balak?" Phinehas recited Bileam's entire criminal history across generations, then killed him.
Moses was furious that the soldiers spared the Midianite women—"These are they who caused the offence of the sons of Israel, by the counsel of Bileam." The Targum then describes a remarkable virginity test. Young girls were made to "stand before the Crown of Holiness"—the priestly tiara—and their faces were examined: "She who is not a virgin will be pallid in the face, but she who is a virgin child will blush in the face, like fire."
The returning soldiers reported that not a single man was lost in battle, then described the restraint they showed. They entered Midianite chambers, saw beautiful women, took only their jewelry—"but in all this we abstained from lifting our eyes upon themselves, or gazing on one of them, lest we should sin and die the death which the wicked die in the world to come." They asked that this restraint "be had in memorial for us in the day of the great judgment."