John Chrysostom: Both Sexes of Children a Complete Joy

After God had accepted him, remember, he repaid her with another child - or, rather, not one, or two, or three, or four only, but even many more. Scripture says, "The barren woman bore seven children," and the interest surpassed the giving a small return on the principal, he makes a return many times the amount. Instead of giving her only girls, he made her offspring a blend of both sexes so that her joy would be complete.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 2, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, pp. 84-85 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.