So these versus are saying they were there but they weren’t otherwise it would be like Solomon’s Temple, which it wasn’t but still pretty good.
2 Nephi 5:15 And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance.
5:16 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.
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vs 15 states that there was an abundance of precious things like gold, etc available to build buildings with.
vs 16 states that ‘precious things’ could not be used because they could not be found.
What ‘precious things’ were missing that aren’t covered in vs 15?