Judges 19:16
And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.
The scene is set at evening in Gibeah, where an old man from Mount Ephraim comes in from his work in the field and is dwelling there only for a time, while the men of the place itself are Benjamites. Evening here means near sunset but not always exactly at sunset, and it is distinct from the precise moment of sunset which shifts with the seasons, for the travelers come to Gibeah as the sun is going down and afterward the old man comes from the field at evening. The verse stands in chapters 17-21, which record events from the early part of the history of the judges yet are placed out of chronological order after chapter 16, where the main story of the book ends.
It belongs to the time when Israel had no king and everyone did what was right in his own eyes, whose lesson is that evil follows such a course. Chapters 18 and 19 show gross immorality prevailing in that condition, when conscience and human reason without divine revelation were perverted and selfishness made wrong appear right. It belongs to the record of Israel's backsliding and the disgrace and punishment that followed, specifically the account of the crime at Gibeah connected with the tribe of Benjamin.
The chapter exposes people putting customary hospitality above a woman's virtue and tribal loyalty above justice, yet neither custom nor loyalty excuses sin. Its record of backsliding gives no permission to sin without punishment.