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• Let’s provide a timeline of Aramaic as it became increasingly important, following the Babylonian exile.
• 586 B.C., Jerusalem captured and the Babylonian exile starts. Jews, in large numbers, are exported to Babylon and across the Babylonian Empire, where they are forced to learn Aramaic. But they are well treated, and because of the similarity of Aramaic to Hebrew, there is little resistance to Aramaic and the task of learning it is not difficult.
• Seventy years later, according to Jeremiah’s prophecy, Jews return to Jerusalem again, establish the Temple worship again, and re-build the walls of Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah. Aramaic and Hebrew are now both spoken, although Aramaic starts to become dominant, and Aramaic is still spoken by Jews outside of Israel.