It should also be noted that while the "Twelve Apostles" refer to the twelve who followed Jesus during his lifetime (and later Matthias in place of Judas Iscariot), Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) can be considered as another apostle. Notably, he begins many of his epistles with "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus", or some variant. The original twelve were apostles sent out to the Jews, whereas Paul has the unique role of being the apostle to the gentiles after Christ's resurrection and ascent.