In Chapter 2 we observed that Saul's tragedy affects not just Saul but also the members of his house, all of whom come to unhappy, often violent, ends. Here we shall investigate the fates of the more important members of Saul's house, his daughter Michal, his sons Jonathan and Ishbosheth, his cousin Abner, and, finally, his wife Rizpah and the harrowing tale of the sacrifice of seven of Saul's descendants in an act of expiation for Saul's crimes against the Gibeonites. As we shall see in greater detail in the next chapter, the members of David's house also suffer for David's sins. That the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children is a painful reality well attested in literature shaped by a tragic vision, and commonly acknowledged in the Bible (Exod. 20:5; cf. Jer. 31:29; Ezek. 18:2; Lam. 5:7; Ps. 79:8). Both royal houses suffer, the Saulide and the Davidic, but with a subtle difference. David's children contribute directly to their father's tragedy by reenacting his sins – all as part of David's punishment. In contrast, suffering befalls Saul's children simply because they belong to a fated house. Theirs is hereditary guilt, a guilt that, as Kierkegaard observes, involves the contradiction of being guilt and not being guilt.