<P> Most of our knowledge about Moabite comes from the Mesha Stele, which is the only known extensive text in this language . In addition there are the three line El - Kerak Inscription and a few seals . The main features distinguishing Moabite from fellow Canaanite languages such as Hebrew are: a plural in - în rather than - îm (e.g. mlkn "kings" for Biblical Hebrew məlākîm), like Aramaic and Arabic; retention of the feminine ending - at or "- ah" which Biblical Hebrew reduces to - āh only (e.g. qiryat or "qiryah" "town", Biblical Hebrew qiryāh) but retains in the construct state nominal form (e.g. qiryát yisrael "town of Israel"); and retention of a verb form with infixed - t -, also found in Arabic and Akkadian (w -' ltḥm "I began to fight", from the root lḥm .) </P> <P> According to Glottolog, referencing Huehnergard & Rubin (2011), Moabite was not a distinct language from Hebrew . </P> <P> According to the Bible, the Moabites opposed the Israelite invasion of Canaan, as did the Ammonites . As a consequence, they were excluded from the congregation for ten generations . The term "tenth generation" is considered an idiom, used for an unlimited time, as opposed to the third generation, which allows an Egyptian convert to marry into the community . The Talmud expresses the view that the prohibition applied only to male Moabites, who were not allowed to marry born Jews or legitimate converts . Female Moabites, when converted to Judaism, were permitted to marry with only the normal prohibition of a convert marrying a kohen (priest) applying . However, the prohibition was not followed during the Exile, and Ezra and Nehemiah sought to compel a return to the law because men had been marrying women who had not been converted at all . The heir of King Solomon was Rehoboam, the son of an Ammonite woman, Naamah . </P> <P> On the other hand, the marriages of the Bethlehem Ephrathites (of the tribe of Judah) Chilion and Mahlon to the Moabite women Orpah and Ruth, and the marriage of the latter, after her husband's death, to Boaz who by her was the great - grandfather of David, are mentioned with no shade of reproach . The Talmudic explanation, however, is that the language of the law applies only to Moabite and Ammonite men (Hebrew, like all Semitic languages, has grammatical gender). The Talmud also states that Prophet Samuel wrote the book of Ruth to settle the dispute as the rule had been forgotten since the time of Boaz . Another interpretation is that the Book of Ruth is simply reporting the events in an impartial fashion, leaving any praise or condemnation to be done by the reader . </P>

What is the significance of moab in the bible