For loop, if statement, then limit
Entirely possible I'm misunderstanding what you're looking for, but I think something like this should do it:

{% set entries = craft.entries.section('news').order('articleOrder desc').find() %}
{% set matchCount = 0 %}

{% for entry in entries %}
    {% if entry.currentYear2 == currentEdition.currentYear2 and currentEdition.currentMonth2 in entry.currentMonth2 and matchCount &lt;= 5 %}
        {% set matchCount = matchCount + 1 %}
        &lt;h2&gt;{{ entry.title }}&lt;/h2&gt;
    {% endif %}          
{% endfor %}