seen above also relate to one another thematically using step parallelism. This can be seen as follows: The first six stanzas speech I he leaves in need but unrepentant becomes a pig herder eats nothing is dying The second six stanzas speech II he returns in need and truly repentant becomes an honored son feeds on fatted calf is alive In addition to the overall parallelisms there are a number of lesser correspondences worthy of note. Both 5′ and 6′ end with joy. The second line of stanzas 2, 3, and