The fire thus kindled spread rapidly. The most celebrated men of the apostolic age were gained to the cause in two or three years almost simultaneously. It was a second Christian generation, parallel to that which had been formed five or six years previously on the shores of Lake Tiberias. This second generation, not having seen Jesus, could not equal the first in authority, but surpassed it in activity and in the ardor for distant missions. One of the best known of these new adepts was Stephanus or Stephen, who before his conversion was probably only a simple proselyte.[6.22] He was a man full of fervor and passion, his faith was very strong, and he was believed to be endowed with all the gifts of the Spirit.[6.23] Philip, who, like Stephen, was a zealous deacon and evangelist, joined the community at about the same time,[6.24] and was often confounded with the apostle of the same name.[6.25] Finally, at this epoch, Andronicus and Junia[6.26] were converted. They were probably husband and wife, who, like Aquila and Priscilla at a later date, were the very model of an apostolic couple, thoroughly devoted to the missionary cause. They were of Israelitish blood, and enjoyed the warm friendship of the apostles.[6.27] Although the new converts were all Jews by religion, when touched by grace, they belonged to two very different classes of Jews. Some were "Hebrews,"{6.28} or Jews of Palestine, speaking Hebrew, or rather _Aramaic_, and reading the Bible in the Hebrew text. The others were "Hellenists," or Jews speaking Greek, and reading the Bible in that tongue. These last were further subdivided into two classes--the one being of Jewish blood; the other proselytes, or people of non-Israelitish origin, affiliated in different degrees to Judaism. The Hellenists, who almost all came from Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, or Cyrene,[6.29] inhabited a separate quarter of Jerusalem, where they had their distinctive synagogues, thus forming little communities by themselves. There were a large number of these private synagogues[6.30] in Jerusalem, and in them the word of Jesus found a soil prepared for its reception.