This short phrase is one of the tiny testimonies to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Imagine Mormon abridging the record of Alma. He is engraving on plates, without an eraser. He accidentally writes, they buried their weapons of peace. Rather than pound the inscription out of the golden plate, he modifies the phrase—as if to say, "this is what I meant to say"—and writes, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace. Such is the difficulty of engraving a record on metal plates.