Problems in the Book of Mormon’s account of Nephi’s Temple

The Book of Mormon states that Nephi built a temple in the land called Nephi (2 Nephi 5:8) patterned after the manner of the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem

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)

This statement stands out to the critical reader who would go to 1 Kings 5 (as the Book of Mormon footnotes indicate) and read about what was involved in the construction of Solomon’s temple.

The manpower that was necessary to construct Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem is fascinating. Over a span of 7 years (1 Kings 6:38) it took 30,000 forced laborers in a three month rotation, 70,000 transporters, 80,000 hewers of stone, and 3,300 supervisors to rule over the other laborers (1 Kings 5:13-16). The text of Scriptures says that Solomon was working with Hiram king of Tyre who he used to get the cedars and other woods from Lebanon (1 Kings 5:1-6). This effort, of course, required more workers. A group of people known as the Sidonians were employed for their skill in cutting down timber (v. 6).

In addition to the laborers needed to construct the temple, there was also need for them to be fed. More laborers were needed, then, to bring and prepare food for those constructing the temple. For the Sidonians alone 20,000 kors (which is approximately equal to 200,000 bushels) of crushed wheat, 20,000 kors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine and 20,000 baths of oil were needed each year (1 Kings 5:11; 2 Chronicles 2:10).

To make a long story short, it took over 150,000 workers seven years to construct the temple in Jerusalem. They needed help from another kingdom and from the Sidonians and they needed food to be brought and prepared for them. With such large numbers of workers it is not unreasonable to believe that some of them died during the 7 years and needed to be replaced by new workers. The total number of people involved in this massive enterprise of building Solomon’s temple is easily over 200,000.

With this understanding of the manpower needed to construct the temple in Jerusalem and feed the workers and replace the workers who died, let us re-examine the claim of 2 Nephi 5:16. The workforce of Nephi was not experienced as verse 15 indicates Nephi was teaching them how to build. They certainly lacked the skill and precision which Solomon required of his workmen (1 Kings 6; 7:14; 2 Chronicles 2:7, 13, 14). Their workforce was divided under Nephi as well, 2 Nephi states that they were not focused entirely on constructing the temple but they had other duties: farming (v. 11), raising families (v. 13), making swords (v. 14, no doubt they also spent time training to use the swords to prepare for a possible attack from the Lamanites), learning to build buildings (v. 15a), learning to work with wood and metals (v. 15b). Certainly there was a lot of work to be done!

One might ask how many people there were available to build a temple “after the manner of the temple of Solomon” in Jerusalem. The company that left with Nephi to arrive in ‘the promised land” (1 Nephi 18:23) was quite modest. 1 Nephi 18 records those present on the voyage over: the sons of Ishmael and their wives (v. 9), Nephi (v. 10), Laman and Lemuel (v. 11), Lehi (v. 17), Jacob and Joseph (v. 19), Nephi’s wife and Children (v. 19). This small crew was divided after they landed and the part which followed Nephi to eventually construct a temple would have been very small.

If the temple in Jerusalem took over 200,000 laborers 7 years to build, it is fair to ask how long Nephi and his men had to build their temple after the manner of Solomon’s. 1 Nephi 5:28 limits them to thirty years maximum. So, if 200,000 needed 7 years to complete the first temple, then 100,000 could have done it in 14 years. Or perhaps 50,000 working 28 years would be able to finish the work needed to build the temple. Of course the extra workers who dealt with the “precious things” (2 Nephi 5:16) are not included here.

If it would have taken at least 50,000 workers 28 years to build a temple it must be asked where these people came from to help Nephi. It is not physically possible for such a small number as traveled to the new land to have been divided and then for Nephi’s part to grow to an excess of 50,000 in 30 years.

It may be argued that they built a smaller temple than the one in Jerusalem. This is in violation of the text which states that is built after the manner of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. To say that the text is incorrect and that the temple was not really built after the manner of Solomon’s is understandable from the perspective of the workforce needed. Those born after they departed would not have that image in mind and would have taken longer to get their work done during construction. It is clear that Nephi did not have the number or quality of workers that Solomon had and thus could not have built a temple after the manner of Solomon.

That is the whole point, Nephi and his men could not have done this! They did not have the ability to build such a massive building as I have noted above. In order to maintain that the Book of Mormon is correct one must go beyond what it says, redefining, diminishing, and damaging what the simple meaning of the words is.

This is but one example of the many problems in the Book of Mormon. If it makes such outlandish and clearly incorrect statements with regard to this temple being built, certainly it is not trustworthy. Why then do so many Mormons trust this book to tell them about God? With the presence of this and many other errors, who is to say that it is safe from error in its religious claims?