"... The two positions, that the Memra is a being somehow independent from God or that it is only an “idiom of speech,” remain with us today. In favor of the former is the fact that the Memra in the Targums does more work than would be expected if it were simply a way of talking about God’s speaking or commanding. And, as with “glory” and “presence,” there is biblical precedent for the personification of the Word. Nevertheless, the term Memra as a periphrasis for God or his action is confined to the Targums. This fact alone implies that it is a phenomenon of translation, invented by the meturgemanim to render anthropomorphic words and expressions in Scripture, and not a theological category indicating subsidiary divine beings or division of persons in the Godhead. This position is further strengthened when we see different Targums using different terms (or no term) in the same verse ... There are two anthropomorphic expressions in this verse: God is said to “go/ walk before you” and also to “fight for you.” All the Targums change “go / walk” to “guide,” but only Onkelos introduces Memra before “fight.” In Neofiti, the “Glory of his Presence” guides, but it is the Lord who fights. Only in Pseudo-Jonathan does the Memra both guide and fight ..."