| Idiom | Beat Your Swords into Plowshares |
|---|---|
| Example | The prime minister would like them to beat their swords into plowshares and abandon all plans for war. |
| Meaning | to stop fighting and turn your attention toward peaceful activities |
| Origin | This is another of the many famous sayings that come from the Bible. In Isaiah 2:4 there appears the following sentence: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Swords and spears represent weapons of war. Plowshares and pruning hooks represent farming tools, which are symbols for all peaceful activities. So when a modern nation "beats its swords into plowshares," it could be manufacturing passenger planes instead of bombers, or VCRs instead of military radar systems. |
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