seven of his male descendants: The law codes of other ancient Near Eastern nations sometimes permitted members of a family to be punished for crimes a guilty individual had committed. But Deuteronomy 24:16 did not allow this practice among the Israelites. Only God could impose such penalties (Deuteronomy 5:9).
The few instances in the Bible when offspring were punished were not regular criminal cases. Instead, they involved offenses against God, such as violation of the kherem (a ban on goods in wars of total destruction ordered by God; Joshua 7:24–25) or of national oaths (as here).
At Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD: This probably refers to the high place at Gibeon, which Solomon later visited (1 Kings 3:3–4; 2 Chronicles 1:3). If the Hebrew reading is correct, , the Gibeonites were likely speaking with irony (using words to mock rather than praise). They may have been calling Saul “the chosen of the Lord” in a sarcastic way.