由字面意“把刀剑打磨成犁头”，我们可看出俗语中的“sword”(剑)代指“战争”，而“plowshares”(犁头)则喻指“和平”。
“Beat your swords into plowshares”源于《圣经·旧约·以赛亚书》第2章第4节：“And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”意思是，大家要将刀剑打成犁头，把长矛制成镰刀，各国从此和平相处，不再打仗。
呵呵，照此典故推理，如果哪天布什愿意“beat their swords into plowshares”(化干戈为玉帛)，说不定用来轰炸伊拉克的战斗机也能有更好的用武之地，被改制成民航客机造福为民呢。
看下面的例句：The prime minister would like them to beat their swords into plowshares and abandon all plans for war.(该国首相希望双方能够化干戈为玉帛，放弃所有的战争计划。)