From this we infer: Whatever Christ establishes as an
essential part of the written Law, that is as old as the written Law. But
Christ establishes the vowel points as an essential part of the written Law.
Therefore, the vowel points are as old as the written Law. (Johann Gerhard, On
the Nature of Theology and on Scripture [trans. Richard J. Dinda; Saint
Louis, Miss.: Concordia Publishing House, 2009], 297)