Weeping, Jesus took the children "one by one" and blessed them, and prayed to the Father for them. (3 Nephi 17:21) Then he wept again. According to Catherine Thomas, this is the second use of "one by one" (see 3 Nephi 11:15) and reassures us of the Lord's individual attention to each of his children. Again we calculate how much time the blessing of many hundreds of children individually must have taken. (If each child's blessing took 1 minute of the Savior's time, and if we just figure for only 300 children, then five hours were spent in these blessings.) If such was the case, the Savior well illustrated what he says later: "I know my sheep, and they are numbered." (3 Nephi 18:31) [Catherine Thomas, "Theophany," in Studies in Scripture: Book of Mormon, Part 2, p. 183]
3 Nephi 17:21 He took their little children, one by one, and blessed them ([Illustration]): Behold Your Little Ones. Artist: Del Parson. [Thomas R. Valletta ed., The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families, 1999, p. 543]
3 Nephi 17:23 He spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your [little ones]: Behold Your Little Ones. Artist David Lindsley. [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Ensign, February 1988, p. 13]