Reply #5: "Hebrew had already evolved into Aramaic by the time of Jesus"

[Boojatta]

Do you have any evidence to support the claim that Aramaic evolved from Hebrew? For example, what historical processes would explain how a language that descended from Hebrew could have become the official, commercial and literary language of the Persian Empire? How many people spoke Hebrew and how did they have such a big influence on the Persian Empire?

... Aramaic became increasingly important, finally establishing itself as the principal medium of communication both on an administrative and an international level. It is in this period that the Aramaic dialects melted into an amalgam, producing a new Official Aramaic. While Official Aramaic replaced Ancient Aramaic, it also introduced in it a few modifications. This lasted as the official, commercial and literary language of the Persian Empire (331 B.C.) until the 4th century AD when it was replaced, as lingua franca of the Middle East, by Greek.

Also, the same paper suggests that your "by the time of Jesus" statement would have to be quite an understatement:

The first Aramaic inscriptions are from between the 10th to 7th century B.C.

My source:
http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v14n1/e8.pdf

Is that not a reliable source?