It’s not my problem that Smith failed to understand the enormous undertaking of the Jews in building Solomon’s temple. Obviously, when Smith dictated his story it went way over his head and didn't fathom the true scope and magnitude of the biblical temple. Nephi’s temple couldn't possibly commensurate in any degree with the biblical version in any shape or form. What was Smith thinking? Was he familiar with the biblical account about how the structure was built of hewn stone or was he simply thinking the house consisted only of timber brought from Lebanon such as cedar and fir, and forgot about the hewn stone? Smith did note that Nephi’s temple was
not built of so many precious things because they were not to be found upon the land, which is quite understandable. It makes me wonder if Smith figured they used cheaper timber for lumber that was available in their neck of the woods and was negligent in remembering the stone.
Had Smith realized the enormous work in hewing stone and understood the gravity of its use, he might have been less inclined to have Nephi
construct a building after the manner of the temple of Solomon. But as it reads in Nephi’s account,
the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon, a stone building. The Book of Mormon was written prior to Smith taking up a serious study of the Bible and tendering his new translations. It’s entirely possible that Smith overlooked the stone completely!
What does the Bible say?
1 Kings 5 wrote:
15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains
1 Kings 5 wrote:
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
1 Kings 6 wrote:
7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
1 Kings 7 wrote:
9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.
10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.
12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the Lord, and for the porch of the house.
The bottom line: Stone is stone and it has to be cut and hewn no matter what kind of stone it is or where it is quarried. That is an enormous undertaking in any degree and could not have been accomplished by Nephi’s clansmen.
It would be a believable story had Nephi mentioned building a temple constructed in the form and material of something other than hewn stone. But according to the beginning of the story, Nephi was from Jerusalem, and must have made pilgrimages to the temple as a young man. He would have been familiar with the stone structure but far less familiar with the interior because that was a secure area and restricted.
Nephi’s words stand on their own; it’s hard to imagine his words being edited by Mormon or Moroni when he’s speaking in the first person repeatedly throughout his writings:
“This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.”
2 Nephi 5 wrote:
14 And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban
15 And I did teach my people to build buildings
16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple