Translation Tangles

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. Genesis 1.6-8 NIV

We can get into sticky issues with regard to how words, phrases, sentences, meaning (!) hold up through translation. Here is how some of the main translations present Genesis 1.8.

New International Version, NIV God called the vault "sky."
New Living Translation God called the space "sky."
English Standard Bible And God called the expanse Heaven.
New American Standard Bible God called the expanse heaven.
King James Bible And God calleth the firmament Heaven.
Revised Standard Versions And God called the firmament Heaven.
International Standard Version God called the canopy "sky."
God's Word Transltn God named [what was above] the horizon [sky].
Jubilee Bible 2000 And God called the firmament Heavens.
Amplified God called the expanse [of sky] heaven.
Darby Bible Translation And God called the expanse Heavens.
Expanded Bible God named the air "sky."
World English Bible God called the expanse "sky."
Young's Literal And God calleth to the expanse Heavens;'
Complete Jewish Bible and God called the dome sky.
Jewish Study Bible, 1985 JPS edition God called the expanse Sky.
Masoretic Text, MT* And God called the firmament Heaven.
*authoritative Hebrew & Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Rabbinic Judiasm

Unfortunately, ancient writers and copiers didn't leave us a dictionary relating their vocabulary to that of twenty-first century American English. At any rate, I'm told the common Hebrew interpretation for what God creates here in verse 8, raqiya, means actually a firm, solid, dome, like an inverted bowl made of hammered out metal. More on this next time.