Jesus emphasized (with some variation among the gospels) seven commandments. They could be sorted as five "don't"s and two "do"s:
- don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't bear false witness, don't defraud
- honor father and mother, love neighbor as self
Or maybe as five of the Ten Commandments and then two others:
- don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't bear false witness, honor father and mother
- don't defraud, love neighbor as self
Or maybe some other distinction of five and two?
I'm wondering if the five loaves and two fishes were a metaphor for the five don'ts and two do's. Or maybe for the five (out of the official Ten) and the two "others."
Maybe these are the five loaves and two fishes with which He fed 5,000? Maybe this was a mnemonic; like the prominence of memorizing and enacting counted lists of principles in Buddhism.
Linguistically, it would be interesting if there were some confirming hint about this in His original language (Aramaic or Hebrew?).
Anybody know enough Aramaic or Hebrew to think of a connection? E.g., does "don't" (or "not," obviously) sound something like "loaves" or "bread"? Or alternatively does "don't" sound something like "one of the official Ten Commands"?
And then does "small" or "fish" sound anything like "do" or "honor" or "love" ? Or maybe like "commandments (mitzvot?) from the Bible that are not among the official Ten Commands"?