I was reading the book of Isaiah, and it says, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” – Isaiah 1:1. If Isaiah was a prophet during the reign of all of these kings then it would be that he prophesied for 113 years because I added up the years that these kings reigned and it all added to 113. Can you please explain this to me?

When Isaiah prophesied, it was “in the days of” or “during” the reign of these four kings. Isaiah received his call as a prophet at the end of Uzziah’s reign (see Isaiah 6:1 – “In the year that king Uzziah died”). Therefore the entire reign of Uzziah’s 52 years shouldn’t be included in this total. Instead, we start with one year – Uzziah’s last year in which he died plus Jotham who reigned for 16 years (II Chron. 27:1). Then Ahaz, 16 years (II Chron. 28:1) and Hezekiah – 29 years (II Chron. 29:1.) for a total of 62 years.