The narrator draws our attention away from the travellers for a moment, toward an old man returning home from his work in the field. The man is from Ephraim, which is also the tribe where the Levite came from. So the old man is an outsider to Gibeah, a resident alien. This may explain his greater hospitality than the actual citizens of Gibeah. It also gives us the impression that there is really no one of good repute in Gibeah. This recalls Sodom, which had no one of repute within, except for the stranger Lot (Genesis 19:1–4). That said, it will becomes apparent that also this old man is not of upright character at all.
16 And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. The men of the place were Benjaminites.