Nephi’s Temple Like Solomon’s

Nephi wrote that he had built a temple like that of Solomon. This statement has drawn guffaws from critics, who note the enormous scale and grandeur of Solomon’s temple, as anyone knowledgeable about the Jewish temple would know. However, it wasn’t the scale and grandeur of Solomon’s temple that made it a model for the Nephite temple—it was the purpose, for Nephi wanted his temple to be like Solomon’s, not in size, but in functionality. To perform the rituals prescribed by the Law of Moses his people would need a temple parallel to Solomon’s in it’s structure (rooms) and purpose.

In fact, Nephi wrote: “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.”

Somehow, critics think that a temple has to be a certain size, however, as modern day temples show, they can vary in size and appearance, but still contain the same rooms of purpose inside. Take those temples built in the last decade or so—they range from about 10,000 square feet (Kiev and Adelaide) to about 60,000 square feet (Oquirrh Mountain, Rexburg Idaho and Draper Utah), but they are all functioning temples and, from the pictures below, they all have a similar design and appearance.

Top LtoR: Kyiv (Kiev) Ukraine (2010) 10,700 sq. ft.; Adelaide Australia (2000) 10,700; San Salvador, El  Salvador (2011) 20,990; Bottom LtoR: Kansas City Missouri (2012) 32,000; Cebu City, Philippines (2010) 29,586; Oquirrh Mountain Utah (2009) 60,000

It might be of interest to know that according to an Elephantine papyri in Egypt, that the descendants of the Jews that went down into Egypt after the fall of the Judaen kingdom (taking with them the prophet Jeremiah), petitioned Jerusalem later if they could build a replica of Solomon’s temple and were given permission to do so. Obviously, it was not as large and grandiose as the original, but it contained the interior rooms and structure to carry out the ordinances of the Law of Moses.

This, of course, is exactly what Nephi did—he built a temple after the manner of Solomon's, only not as great because he lacked the materials, but was fully capable of performing the Law of Moses, which the Nephites honored. As he said, “And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things according to the law of Moses” (2 Nephi 5:10). Only those who do not understand temple worship would use such an act and description to criticize the Book of Mormon and the ancient prophet Nephi.

In fact, and most importantly, it should be understood that Solomon’s Temple, or the First Temple, has no direct archaeological evidence for its existence, and no mention of it exists in the surviving contemporary extra-biblical literature. The Bible states that the temple was constructed in the 10th century B.C.; however, no archeological proof for or against the existence of Solomon's Temple has been found. The exact location of the First Temple is unknown: it is believed to have been situated upon the hill which forms the site of the 1st century Second Temple and present-day Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock is now situated. However, two other, slightly different sites have been proposed on this same hill: one places the stone altar at the location of the rock which is now beneath the gilded dome, with the rest of the temple to the west, and the other, more recently proposed, between the Dome of the Rock and the gilded dome, based on orientation to the eastern wall, drainage channels, orientation of the platform stones, and the location of a possible Boaz pillar base.

LtoR: Israel Finkelstein, Neil Siberman, their book

However, according to Israel Finkelstein, Professor of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University and Neil Asher Siberman, of Archaeology Magazine, in The Bible Unearthed, the description of the temple is remarkably similar to that of surviving remains of Phoenician temples of the time, and it is certainly plausible, from the point of view of archaeology, that the temple was constructed to the design of the Phoenicians.

A rendition of David’s palace, now being excavated, which was built using Phoenician architecture

It is also interesting to note that the modeling of Nephite worship based on early Israelite worship in Jerusalem has been explored by Kevin Christensen. He described the key features of Jerusalem worship from the days of Lehi’s youth, before the heavy-handed Josian reform, and then observes that Nephite religion contained all of these, “with the understandable exception of the specific temple artifacts kept in the holy of holies, such as the ark of the covenant…and the cherubim.”

But while the Nephites’ omission of the Ark of the Covenant from their temple is, as he says, understandable, it is also important. The Jerusalem temple was, in one sense, a house for the Ark of the Covenant. The temple was structured in layers of sacredness, or degrees of glory, if you will, around the Ark, with the chamber that contained the Ark being the holiest place of all, the Holy of Holies. The Ark, bearing as it did the stone tablets God touched with His finger on Sinai during the Exodus, provided Israel an embodiment of His presence. The Ark also served as an altar, upon which the Aaronite high priest was required to sprinkle sacrificial blood during the all-important Day of Atonement.

Lehi and Nephi saw the prophetic vision of the straight and narrow path, tree of life, and the great and spacious building

So what Priesthood did Nephi hold? He served as a prophet, had a vision given him and was visited by an angel. He foresaw, as did his father, the history of the Nephites, their total destruction, the coming of the Europeans, and the work that was to unfold. Other prophets saw the day of Christ’s appearance. Nephi had the authority to call his younger brothers as priests. Alma, had to have had, at least, the Aaronic Priesthood for his baptisms to have had effect.

Obviously, the priesthood necessary to conduct whatever rituals of the Law of Moses the Nephites honored, was in the hands of the various Nephite prophets. The other side of the coin, is what artifacts did the Nephites possess that could serve the necessary objects to conduct the various rituals of the Law of Moses that could mirror the sacred relics of the Exodus kept in Solomon’s temple? Again, obviously, the Nephites possessed the Liahona, the Urim and Thummim and the Sword of Laban, as well as the plates of their history, including the brass plates and the Jaredite plates.

The parallel of each of the Nephite sacred items and those of the ancient Jews is so symbolically similar, the comparison is astounding.

The point of all this is simply to show that when Nephi said “And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon” we see he did not mean the size, shape, or square footage that took so many Jews several years to construct, but that he built it for the same purpose as Solomon built his temple, for the worshiping of God. And, no doubt, within the possibilities of his new land and city, he built it to the best of his ability to honor God. In fact, he said that he built it like Solomon built his temple, “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."