The phrase “beating swords into plowshares” comes from the Bible and refers to abandoning military activity for peace. The Bible has conflicting uses of the phrase, but it is often understood as a return to peaceful ways. Many peace organizations use the phrase to promote peace and humanitarian efforts. Military technology can also benefit civilians if released to the public.
The term “beating swords into plowshares”, referring to the abandonment of military activity to pursue peace, comes from the Bible. There are several references to the beating of swords into plowshares and vice versa in the Bible, reflecting the widespread use of swords and plowshares in Biblical times. Today, the term has been adopted by many Christian peace organizations as a motto or title, and is also famously included in the Plowshare Movement, an anti-nuclear movement that arose in the 1980s.
In the Book of Joel, one verse refers to beating plowshares into swords and pruning hooks into spears, in a verse where people are encouraged to rise up to defend themselves and their values. The same phrase is used again in the Books of Micah and Isia, with opposite meaning, in verses that say to turn swords into plowshares and spears into sickles, alluding to the need to return to peace. A sword is a powerful symbol of military endeavours, while a plowshare symbolizes agrarian life and community.
The conflicting uses of this term in the Bible could be used to illustrate the need to defend oneself when appropriate, but to dismantle the instruments of warfare after a mission has been accomplished. “Swords into Plowshares” is often understood as a return to peaceful ways and a very definitive way of turning one’s back on war, literally destroying the weapons with which war could be fought. One could also theoretically think that the tools of war are potentially always at hand, given the verse where people turn plowshares into swords, although this interpretation is not very widespread.
Many peace activists have pushed their nations to turn swords into plowshares by rearranging things designed for military use so they can benefit civilians. Indeed, many military inventions benefit civilians, such as sonar, which was designed to search for enemy ships and submarines, but which can also be used like ultrasound to view the inside of the body noninvasively. Military technology is often applicable to civilian uses, assuming the military is willing to release it to the general public.
The cry of “breaking swords into plowshares” is also used by organizations lobbying for peace and humanitarian efforts around the world. For example, some organizations promote the rehabilitation and training of boy soldiers in Africa with the argument that if swords can be turned into plowshares, surely people who have been trained for war can be trained for something else. Many of these organizations are calling for a general lay down of arms on all sides so that those involved in the conflict can pursue nation-building and improvement of living conditions, rather than focusing on warfare.
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