I have a friend who’s very knowledgeable about Hebrew and he told me much the same thing some 30 years ago.
He said in the Hebrew, there’s a change in verb tense between the first and second verses of Genesis. In the first verse, it does indicate creation of something new, never created before.
In the second verse, it’s a remaking of what was there.
His speculation, and it makes sense to me, is that what happened between the first and second verses was the fall of Satan. When Satan fell, he deliberately destroyed the earth, likely in an attempt to thwart God’s purposes. So God had to make it habitable for man again. He remodeled it.
Oh! the judeo-christian fiction that could be written about that... even science fiction.. We have our hands full dicerning the bible we have.. bringing these(events) into the picture would be fool hardy.. that IF they happened at all.. {cough}.. (shineing glasses) trying to look credible..