2. “In the Book of Mormon Nephi states that he built a temple in the land of Nephi after the manner of the temple of Solomon, but not with precious materials as the ones Solomon used, but it was magnificent according to Nephi and am sure made out of timber. Obviously it did not have stairs running to the temple according to Jewish law, but ramps” Ana M.
Actually, Nephi said “it were not built of so man precious things,” not “with precious materials” as stated in the above comment. As for the overall understanding, we first of all need to get into the meaning of Nephi’s words, when he wrote: “And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon's temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.” (2 Nephi 5:16).
Secondly, we need to single out four specific sentences:
1. What did Nephi mean when he said “save it were not built of so many precious things”?
2. What did Nephi mean when he said, “for they were not to be found in the land”?
3. What did Nephi mean when he said, “But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon”?
4. What did Nephi mean when he said, “The workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine”?
The next step is to consider the overall meaning of the entire statement:
1. “And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon…
The frame-work of Solomon’s Temple consisted of massive stone; the foundations were laid at a profound depth, and consisted of stones of immense size and great durability. They were closely mortised into the rock, so as to form a secure basis for the substantial erection of the sacred edifice; it contained 1453 columns, 2906 pillars, with the stone walls wainscoted with cedar, which was covered with gold. The boards within the Temple were ornamented with carved work, skillfully representing cherubim, palm-leaves, and flowers. The ceiling was supported by beams of cedar-wood, which, with that used in the wainscoting, was supplied from the forest of Lebanon. The floor was throughout made of cedar, but boarded over with planks of fir.
Solomon’s temple:
Material: Stone blocks cut and dressed at the quarry for walls; Stone walls overlaid with cedar panels so no stone could be seen; Plank walls overlaid with pure gold so no wood could be seen; Juniper or fir wood plank flooring covered with gold; huge doors made of olive wood were carved with cherubim and palm trees, overlaid with gold;
Structure: Stone, wood beams, planks, and panels; cedar wood altar overlaid with gold; inner courtyard built of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams;
Support Structures: 27-foot high pillars of bronze; wood columns (beams), wood door frames;
2. “save it were not built of so many precious things…
Precious things in Solomon’s Temple: 18’ high wall-to-wall olive-wood carved cherubim covered with pure gold; ark of the covenant; ten commandment stones; sacred ritual objects, such as the seven branched “Menorah” candlestick, inner altar for incense offering and the table of the showbread; Molten sea, a large laver 18 feet in diameter, resting on backs of twelve oxen holding 3000 baths; Bronze laver with wheels holding 40 baths;
Additional buildings: The temple was part of a splendid series of buildings Solomon constructed in immediate connection with it, which included Solomon’s own residence, the palace of Pharaoh’s daughter, the throne-room, the porch of pillars, and the house of the forest of Lebanon.
3. “for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon's temple.”
So what items might not have been found on the Land of Promise where Nephi built his temple? Certainly there was gold, he had bronze, copper and iron, and stone would obviously have been available. We do not know what type of wood he had available to him. Olive trees and cedars of Lebanon are mentioned repeatedly in the construction of Solomon’s Temple. On the other hand, as for precious things, he would not have available to him the Ark of the Covenant, temple treasures, Ten Commandment stones, and other artifacts that were found only in the temple in Jerusalem. So perhaps he was referring to the precious things of the temple, and not the construction material. This seems borne out in the next part of his comment:
4. “But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.”
Manner of Construction: would include the materials and construction methods. And Nephi, who had spent some time in the Temple at Jerusalem, having been on the grounds, seen the buildings, and been inside the temple, would have had a good understanding of the differences.
One of the big differences between Solomon’s Temple and that of Nephi’s edifice, and one which brings most critics to a laughing state, and dates back to as early as 1909 with B.H. Roberts, is that of available manpower. Critics have spent much time discussing the amount of people and length of time Solomon had at his disposal and almost no workers by comparison for Nephi’s temple.
Consider Solomon’s Temple:
7 years to build
30,000 laborers
70,000 transporters
80,000 stone hewers
3,300 deputies
(full worker force 183,000)
(See the next post, “Meaning of Words and Statements Part II: Not of So Many Precious Things PtII, the second part of this post regarding what statements in the scriptural record mean, such as “Not of so many precious things”)
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